War, religion, the planet, energy: This one's got it all!

To borrow a word from McCain, "friends" this next rant by Sarah Palin is so loaded with vitriol, condescension and pure lies that I have to issue a warning: Not for the feint of heart. Pick up your pooper-scoopers because this one's loaded with BS and read at your own peril:

"This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it."

This is going to take some time to dissect, so bear with me (this is a long post). First, how about that opening line: "This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign."

If the Obama campaign hasn't used the word 'victory' to describe America's two wars, it's because we aren't victorious in either of them (by virtue of the fact that we're still there and people are still getting killed!). In fact, here's what McCain himself said about Afghanistan during a town hall meeting in July,

"The status quo is not acceptable. Security in Afghanistan has deteriorated, and our enemies are on the offensive."

I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like a victory speech to me (however, it may be the only true thing to come out of McCain's mouth since he began his campaign). He also said:

"Sen. Obama will tell you we can't win in Afghanistan without losing in Iraq."

"I know how to win wars. And if I'm elected president, I will turn around the war in Afghanistan, just as we have turned around the war in Iraq, with a comprehensive strategy for victory."

Just curious, what wars did John McCain win? He fought in Vietnam but we sure didn't win that one. Unless I'm mistaken, he wasn't calling the shots in the first Gulf War and by everyone's account, we haven't won in Iraq or Afghanistan. And if he indeed has a comprehensive strategy for victory, why on earth doesn't he share so we can get out of there!

The same day McCain made those remarks, the real Sen. Obama (not the fictional character McCain conjures up) actually said in a speech in Washington: the U.S. must end the war in Iraq and that Afghanistan, by contrast, is "a war that we have to win." Sounds quite a bit different than McCain's version of what Obama said doesn't it.

Back to Palin, how about this lovely line: What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?

Quite an inflammatory and ridiculous statement loaded with religious symbolism coming from a woman that believes the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God "; called her plan for a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in Alaska "God's will"; and thinks that global warming is not man-made (so why does Obama need to heal the planet if there's no global warming?).

She goes on to say: "The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world."

Of course she doesn't say how Obama will make government bigger, for her it's good enough to just hurl an accusation and hope that it sticks. McCain made a similar baseless claim about Obama in a radio ad on Aug. 20. He said Obama will increase the size of government by 23%. This claim is so outrageous that PolitiFact.com blasted it out of the water.

And what about "more orders from Washington?" I have no idea what Sarah means by that but I do have a question for her: Sarah, speaking about orders from Washington, what do you call it when the government tells you what you can and can't do with your reproductive choices? What do you call it when they tell you who you can and can't marry? It's no surprise that McCain has voted against family planning 22 times and supports overturning Roe v Wade, as does Palin. Palin goes one step better by also opposing abortion even in cases of rape or incest. Both McCain and Palin oppose gay marriage and Palin opposes benefits for same-sex couples.

As far as Palin's laughable claim that Obama is trying to "reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world", I suggest she read his platform on defense. And it seems that sending 165,000 troops, including most of the nation's National Guard, to Iraq (on false pretenses) for nearly six years is reducing America's strength in a dangerous world, wouldn't you agree Sarah? Here are some highlights of Obama's plan:

• Rebuild the Military for 21st Century Tasks - build up our special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations, and other units and capabilities that remain in chronic short supply; invest in foreign language training, cultural awareness, and human intelligence and other needed counterinsurgency and stabilization skill sets; and create a more robust capacity to train, equip, and advise foreign security forces, so that local allies are better prepared to confront mutual threats.
• Expand to Meet Military Needs on the Ground - increase the size of the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marines by 27,000 troops. Increasing our end strength will help units retrain and re-equip properly between deployments and decrease the strain on military families.
• Leadership from the Top - restore the ethic of public service to the agenda of today's youth, whether it be serving their local communities in such roles as teachers or first responders, or serving in the military to keep our nation free and safe.
  Fully Equip Our Troops for the Missions They Face - provide vitally needed equipment to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines before lives are lost. We cannot repeat such failures as the delays in deployment of armored vehicles, body armor and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that save lives on the frontlines.
• Review Weapons Programs - rebalance our capabilities to ensure that our forces have the agility and lethality to succeed in both conventional wars and in stabilization and counter-insurgency operations. Obama has committed to a review of each major defense program in light of current needs, gaps in the field, and likely future threat scenarios in the post-9/11 world.
• Preserve Global Reach in the Air - preserve our unparalleled airpower capabilities to deter and defeat any conventional competitors, swiftly respond to crises across the globe, and support our ground forces. We need greater investment in advanced technology ranging from the revolutionary, like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and electronic warfare capabilities, to essential systems like the C-17 cargo and KC-X air refueling aircraft, which provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power.
• Maintain Power Projection at Sea - recapitalize our naval forces, replacing aging ships and modernizing existing platforms, while adapting them to the 21st century. Obama will add to the Maritime Pre-Positioning Force Squadrons to support operations ashore and invest in smaller, more capable ships, providing the agility to operate close to shore and the reach to rapidly deploy Marines to global crises.
• National Missile Defense - support missile defense, but ensure that it is developed in a way that is pragmatic and cost-effective; and, most importantly, does not divert resources from other national security priorities until we are positive the technology will protect the American public.
• Ensure Freedom of Space - restore American leadership on space issues, seeking a worldwide ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites. He will thoroughly assess possible threats to U.S. space assets and the best options, military and diplomatic, for countering them, establishing contingency plans to ensure that U.S. forces can maintain or duplicate access to information from space assets and accelerating programs to harden U.S. satellites against attack.
• Protect the U.S in Cyberspace - work in cooperation with our allies and the private sector to identify and protect against emerging cyber-threats.
• Restore the Readiness of the National Guard and Reserves - provide the National Guard with the equipment it needs for foreign and domestic emergencies and time to restore and refit before deploying. He will make the head of the National Guard a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to ensure concerns of our citizen soldiers reach the level they mandate. He will ensure that reservists and Guard members are treated fairly when it comes to employment, health, and education benefits.

And last but not least, Sarah said: "America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it." This is downright hilarious. His entire plan is about American becoming energy independent in ten years. Admit it Sarah, you're just PO'ed that he's not in favor of drilling in your home state's National Wildlife Preserve. Read his energy plan for the details - it's so comprehensive, I can't put it all in this post, which is already long enough!