Today is the first NFL Sunday of the year. In college football last night, the Florida Gators held off a gutsy Miami Hurricane team 26-3 (it was 9-3 into the fourth quarter.) I watched the game with the sound turned down because I can not stand Brent Musberger. I hope that is the last Gator game on ESPN. What happened to Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried? Are you ready for some football?

And TChris, how does Bret Favre look in J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS! green?

Finally, believe it or not, the baseball season is still ongoing. Not that anybody cares (bitter Yankee fan here.) This is an Open Thread.

A little late, but better late than never, 538 gets it:

She can make game-changing agitation plays that rouse her home team and provoke the other side into counterattacks that – 100% of the time – end up punishing the team who hits back. Democrats would be smart to understand her as such, and I see a lot of reaction that doesn't seem to grasp what Palin is doing and the value she's providing. I see a lot of Democrats taking a lot of bait.

This applies more to Democratic surrogates than it does to the top-ticket duo. Joe Biden had the smart response yesterday – naming the behavior – expecting it, and then riding through without taking the bait . . . And that’s all he says of Palin’s antics. Name the behavior, even praising the skill with which the agitation was attempted, and then back to focus. It's "the economy, stupid."

Yep. McCain/Palin represents Bush's Third Term. It represents, as the Obama ads constantly refrain, more of the same. Good to see some of the folks on the Left blogs are beginning to get it.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Josh Marshall whines that CNN is not following his histrionic lead on Troopergate. CNN investigative reporter Drew Griffin writes:

The Alaska state trooper at the center of a probe into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power says he has “made mistakes, and I’ve learned from those mistakes.” But in an exclusive interview with us, Mike Wooten, Palin’s former brother-in-law, also denies some of the biggest allegations against him.

In our interview, Wooten rattled off a disturbing number of “mistakes” he’s made in his career. He admits tasering his stepson, illegally killing a moose and admits to multiple reprimands in his file. A state trooper investigation even found credible evidence he was drinking in his patrol car. But please tell me if you think his tale — dubbed Troopergate by Gov. Palin’s political enemies — is really the scandal that will bring down the newest star on the political scene.

(Emphasis supplied.) Simple answers to simple questions - no, it won't. Making a victim of Wooten is impossible. He clearly is unfit to be a law enforcement officer. Josh Marshall and Co. won't be able to make a scandal of trying to get him off the Alaska state trooper force.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

From today's Chicago Tribune:

Just as McCain's politics are largely shaped by his experience as a prisoner of war and Obama's by his embrace of his racial identity, Palin's approach has been shaped by her relationship with God. Palin sees her government work as paling in comparison to a greater mission.

Her pastor thinks her religion would shape her views on foreign policy: [more...]

Saving social security was the issue du jour on the campaign trail. John McCain, speaking to an AARP conference, did his best to frighten the audience.

"Social Security is going broke. Social Security is going broke. Hello?!"

McCain's plan to address the projected insolvency [his word] of the Social Security Trust Fund is to "reach across the aisle" and "change Washington." He also promises "the creation of a bipartisan commission to propose solutions." Hey, while we're at it, let's get a bipartisan commission to tell us how to get out of Iraq. Oh, we did?

[more ...]

Rep. Betty McCollum says "she played a pivotal role in securing some $50 million for the Twin Cities to help defray the cost of the [Republican National Convention]." She deserves credit for her willingness to ask whether that money financed police security that was needlessly militaristic.

“Betty is the first public official we’ve met with since this crackdown began who has actually listened,” said Gena Berglund, an attorney who has been active in the Lawyers Guild’s efforts to protect the First Amendment rights of RNC protestors. Berglund said the NLG’s request to meet with Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, who has been at the center of controversy over alleged police misconduct, or members of his staff was “turned down flat.” The NLG was able to meet this week with a staff person in St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman’s office, but said Berglund, “That meeting went nowhere. They are not interested in listening to us.”

In honor of yesterday's announcement that the unemployment rate is at a 5 year high (6.1 percent, not counting those who are so frustrated that they've quit looking for jobs and those who are underemployed), this open thread is brought to you by the Randy Newman song "Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)."

Update: Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is on the right track on how to go after Palin.

*****

Greg Sergeant at TPM outlines two possible plans of the Obama campaign for dealing with the Sarah Palin issue. One seems to be do nothing, see how it plays out and continue to fight against McCain. The other is to point out that Palin is upstaging McCain which shows...I'm not sure what.

The problem with not fighting back against Palin is that the Republicans are using as their central argument that Obama is inexperienced, ignoring that their VP candidate has no relevant national experience that qualifies her for Vice President. Palin doesn't hestitate to make that argument against him, and I shake my head every time I hear it, wondering how she of all people can make that claim with a straight face. [More...]

I survived the McCain/Palin campaign event in Colorado Springs. While I'm writing up an article about it for Salon, here's an open thread for you.

I'm humming, With G-d on our side.

What else is going on today?

This is an open thread.

The religious right's love affair with Sarah Palin didn't prevent Leslee Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, from questioning whether Palin has strayed too far from a centerpiece of religious right orthodoxy.

John McCain and the GOP platform say children should be taught that abstinence until marriage is the only safe way to avoid pregnancy and disease. Palin's position is less clear. In a widely quoted 2006 survey she answered during her gubernatorial campaign, Palin said she supported abstinence-until-marriage programs. But weeks later, she proclaimed herself "pro-contraception" and said condoms ought to be discussed in schools alongside abstinence.

Unruh hasn't exactly accused Palin of flip-flopping on abstinence-only education, but she criticized Palin for suggesting that kids should learn that contraception is an alternative way to avoid pregnancy. Unruh said Palin's mixed message is "disjointed" and unclear and urged Palin to get on board with a "clear and concise" abstinence-only philosophy. Two days later, perhaps having received a "shut up" memo, Unruh dismissed Palin's pro-contraception comments as "old" and said she supports Palin in every way. Yet Palin's spokesperson says Palin stands by her remarks. [more...]

Greg Sargent, while reporting on Obama's strategy vis a vis Palin (Obama agrees with me, do not focus on Palin), comes up with an interesting idea:

One idea that's being kicked around by Dems: Because huge amounts of media coverage of Palin are inevitable, why not start pushing the idea that she's upstaging the guy who's supposed to be at the top of the ticket? The idea here is that her speeches will energize audiences more than his will, and she'll prove a stronger fundraising draw than he will -- facts that Dems can point to in order to portray McCain as being diminished and overshadowed by his more-charismatic and energetic number-two.

(Emphasis mine.) I am not sure I buy it, but it is certainly a better idea than acting as if Palin is the top of the ticket.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Here's a comparison of Gov. Sarah Palin and President George W. Bush, demonstrating their similarities.

In Gov. Palin, the GOP has its new Bush, same as the old Bush, but more polished, more presentable, more user-friendly than the original ever was -- and, they hope, still fresh and unencumbered enough to run as a "maverick" against the legacy of Dubya 1.0's failures.

The examples on the second page of the article are striking:

If there's a common cause for Bush and Palin's less-than-complex worldview -- one that should disturb the security minded of both parties -- it's their profound disinterest in understanding or even experiencing other countries and cultures.

The mastermind behind both: Karl Rove. [more...]