NEW VIDEO: SEAN HANNITY SOFTBALLS SARAH PALIN

The second installment of the Sean Hannity interview with Sarah Palin was so pathetic it doesn't
warrant running the whole fawning episode from the September 18 "Hannity and Colmes" FOX NEWS show.

However, here are brief snippets from the so-called "interview."

NOTICE HOW FOX NEWS KEEPS RUNNING "BREAKING NEWS" UNDER THE VIDEO OF HANNITY INTERVIEWING PALIN.

In one segment of Pt. 2 of the hyped Sarah Palin interview, Hannity asks Palin about how she first supported the "Bridge to Nowhere," but then voted against it after it was already determined it was not going through Congress.

Instead of answering Hannity's question, Palin goes off and starts talking about building a ferry between the Alaska islands and Hannity NEVER asked her why she did not answer his initial question.

This segment is not available now, but we will be posting it shortly because it clearly shows what a pathetic interviewer Sean Hannity is and how he is not a reporter but a mouthpiece for the McCain/Palin campaign.

WATCH PORTIONS OF PT. 2 OF THE SARAH PALIN INTERVIEW HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/Ul6U3J2OiQI&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

SOLDIER IN IRAQ KILLS SQUAD LEADER AND TEAM LEADER

Soldier in Iraq Kills Squad Leader and Fellow Team Leader
Posted: 17 Sep 2008 10:47 PM CDT
Source: http://www.vetvoice.com/

When the two deaths in Iraq were announced late Sunday, something didn't sound right. It wasn't combat, there was no mention of a vehicle accident, and with two dead, it clearly wasn't a suicide. Now we know why:
A U.S. soldier was detained in Iraq after he allegedly opened fire on a superior and another unit member, killing them both, the U.S. Army said Wednesday.
The soldier was subdued by other troops, and medics tried unsuccessfully to save the wounded soldiers, said Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo, commanding general at Fort Stewart in southern Georgia, where the soldiers' unit is based.
An Army spokesman said the shooting happened Sunday in Tunnis, Iraq. The alleged shooter's name was not released.
The Army identified the slain soldiers as Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson, 24, and Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin, 26.
The soldier--a team leader whose name hasn't been released yet--had apparently been in a meeting with his squad leader and the other team leader about his performance.
When the AP says the shooter was then "subdued by other troops," my hope is that this included multiple buttstrokes.

Chinook Goes Down in Iraq
Posted: 17 Sep 2008 10:19 PM CDT
Bad news:
BAGHDAD - An American Chinook helicopter crashed early Thursday in southern Iraq, killing at least five U.S. soldiers and leaving two others missing, the military said.
A U.S. statement said the CH-47 Chinook was landing after midnight about 60 miles west of Basra when the incident occurred.
A spokesman for the Multi-National Force-Iraq confirmed to The Associated Press that the helicopter had crashed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to provide details.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, or if hostile fire was involved.
UPDATE: The AP is now reporting the two missing soldiers as having been killed, bringing the total to seven. Also, hostile fire is "not suspected."

New CBS/NYT Polls Asks about Iraq
Posted: 17 Sep 2008 06:36 PM CDT
Among other things, the new CBS/New York Times survey found the following:
Still, most Americans continue to think the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq in the first place, and 53 percent now say the war in Iraq is not a part of the war on terrorism -- more than ever before.
I guess these things become clearer when the casualty rate in Afghanistan skyrockets while Pakistan falls apart. Go figure.

EXCLUSIVE: THE PASTOR WHO CLASHED WITH PALIN

The pastor who clashed with PalinBaptist minister Howard Bess, who wrote a book Palin wanted banned and who fought her on abortion and gay rights, says the country should fear her election.

By David Talbot
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/15/bess/index.html

Sep. 16, 2008 The Wasilla Assembly of God, the evangelical church where Sarah Palin came of age, was still charged with excitement on Sunday over Palin's sudden ascendance.

Pastor Ed Kalnins warned his congregation not to talk with any journalists who might have been lurking in the pews -- and directly warned this reporter not to interview any of his flock. But Kalnins and other speakers at the service reveled in Palin's rise to global stardom.

It confirmed, they said, that God was making use of Wasilla. "She will take our message to the world!" rejoiced an Assembly of God youth ministry leader, as the church band rocked the high-vaulted wooden building with its electric gospel.

That is what scares the Rev. Howard Bess. A retired American Baptist minister who pastors a small congregation in nearby Palmer, Wasilla's twin town in Alaska's Matanuska Valley, Bess has been tangling with Palin and her fellow evangelical activists ever since she was a Wasilla City Council member in the 1990s.

Recently, Bess again found himself in the spotlight with Palin, when it was reported that his 1995 book, "Pastor, I Am Gay," was among those Palin tried to have removed from the Wasilla Public Library when she was mayor.

"She scares me," said Bess. "She's Jerry Falwell with a pretty face.

"At this point, people in this country don't grasp what this person is all about. The key to understanding Sarah Palin is understanding her radical theology."

Bess -- a fit-looking, 80-year-old man in a gray University of Illinois sweatshirt and blue jeans – spoke with me over coffee at the Vagabond Blues, a cafe in Palmer with a stunning view of the nearby snow-capped Chugach Mountains. The retired minister moved to the Mat-Su Valley with his wife, Darlene, in 1987, after his outspoken defense of gay rights at Baptist churches in the Santa Barbara, Calif., area and Anchorage landed him in trouble with church officials. In the Mat-Su Valley, Bess plunged into community activism, helping launch an assortment of projects, from an arts council to a shelter for the mentally disabled.

Continue reading http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/15/bess/index.html

Inevitably, his work brought him into conflict with Palin and other highly politicized Christian fundamentalists in the valley. "Things got very intense around here in the '90s -- the culture war was very hot here," Bess said. "The evangelicals were trying to take over the valley. They took over the school board, the community hospital board, even the local electric utility. And Sarah Palin was in the direct center of all these culture battles, along with the churches she belonged to."

SARAH PALIN'S PERSONAL EMAILS---LOOK AT THEM

Here they are. Sarah Palin's personal emails.

http://gawker.com/5051193/sarah-palins-personal-email-account-hacked

VIDEO: ALASKA WOMEN REJECT SARAH PALIN IN ANCHORAGE

Not everyone in Alaska is crazy about Sarah Palin. In fact, the more people are finding out the real truth about Sarah Palin the more the bloom has come off the "Alaska Rose." or the "Caribou Barbie Doll."

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/yGvKy-5yFz8&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW IN PICTURE TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

BUSH ADMIN TO VETO PAY RAISE FOR TROOPS

The following is from the VetVoice newsletter http://www.vetvoice.com/and is a potpourri of events that impact the lives of veterans and active duty personnel.

Click on the part in BLUE for addtional information:

Source: http://www.vetvoice.com/

Veto Threat over 0.5% Military Pay Increase
Posted: 17 Sep 2008 09:02 AM CDT
Right now the administration is threatening to veto the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009.
Want to know one of the reasons why?
The Administration strongly opposes section 601 of the bill, which provides an additional 0.5 percent increase in 2009 above the President's 3.4 percent across-the-board pay increase.
The cost?
The cost of increasing the FY 2009 military pay raise by an additional 0.5 percent is $293 million in FY 2009 and $2.5 billion from FY 2009 to FY 2014.
Compared to all the bailouts of the last week, $293 million is frankly, nothing.
Would someone turn this into a televised advertisement?

Losing our Way in Afghanistan
Posted: 17 Sep 2008 10:21 AM CDT
Spencer Ackerman--who is currently embedded with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan--has a great piece in today's Washington Independent about the way in which Afghan corruption is killing our ability to make progress. Key quote:
As Robertson said earlier that day, the police and the army are the only long-term strategy for securing Afghanistan. The U.S. troops have two missions: to hunt down the Taliban and Al Qaeda elements, and to prepare the Afghan security forces to take over security duties. Today, the second mission appeared to imperil the first.
You can read the entire article here.

Pakistan Orders Troops To Fire On US Soldiers
Posted: 17 Sep 2008 09:01 AM CDT
So, just to review, Pakistan is harboring Al-Qaeda terrorists, has WMD (including nuclear), and has a horrible human rights record. Now, they are even showing open hostility against US forces.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) Pakistan's military has ordered its forces to open fire if U.S. troops launch another air or ground raid across the Afghan border, an army spokesman said Tuesday.
The orders, which come in response to a highly unusual Sept. 3 ground attack by U.S. commandos, are certain to heighten tensions between Washington and a key ally against terrorism. Although the ground attack was rare, there have been repeated reports of U.S. drone aircraft striking militant targets, most recently on Sept. 12.
Pakistani officials warn that stepped-up cross-border raids will accomplish little while fueling violent religious extremism in nuclear-armed Pakistan. Some complain that the country is a scapegoat for the failure to stabilize Afghanistan.

How is it that Pakistan is considered our "ally"? And why is it that we need to attack Iran?