Newspapers, such as the New York Times, are agenda driven and they attempt to shape opinion with thier choice of stories, they do not let events determine what is news worthy. The constantly declining circulation proves that they are sinking to feeding an ever tightening niche audience of radicals who expect partisan attacks on any political issue rather than fair and balanced and truthful reporting. They print for thier spoon fed audiences and not for the wide open masses. The new media, the blogosphere, talk radio, XM, newsletters that cater to individual tastes, and networks like Fox News that are not driven by an inside agenda but rather by delivering a factual accounting of the  events of the day or the week..., have served to cut down once giant news media machines like the NY Times to the point where they only appeal to thier own rigidly ideological readership.  The Audit Bureau of Circulations reports that the daily version of the NY Times is at a current circulation of 1,077,256 which is down from the previous year, and they continue to sink.
 
Now, on to the latest attacks on Sarah Palin. At a recent fund raising event she said the following ;

"We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."

For this innocent statement she has been ridiculed, derided, and in general attacked as she always is by the politically motivated left wing press for every statement she makes on anything at all.  The mistake Sarah made here, and always makes,  is that she forgets she's not allowed to express her own opinion.  Her opinion of what makes America great must  match the views of the left wing press, or she's ridiculed as a rube from an outland of snowblind posers. Well, Sarah said it herself back at her convention speech, she's not going to DC to please the media.  And we love that attitude in her. We love it when the liberal press is flummoxed and angry and panicked and flabergasted at Sarah, because it exposes them for the hyper-partisan yellow dog Democrats they are, as they attempt to hide behind a window dressing of impartiality and fairness. Sarah is absolutely correct to point out that some areas of our country produce a higher ratio of openly displayed genuine patriotism than others. We all know, even the liberal press knows..., that there are rabid anti-American hate mongers foaming at the mouth in all sorts of places around our country.  Barack Obama could introduce you to several of the more prominent ones since he has allied himself with some of the most vicious examples. We have been long exposed to the inbred hatered of middle America by the liberals of this country who think that the average American is a racist, redneck ingnoramus... as that fumble-mouthed idiot congressman John Murtha recently expressed. The entire Democrat leadership on Captiol Hill could easily be declared a gaggle of facist anti-American anti-patriotic narcissists. They held our troops in Iraq hostage time after time by fighting against success, against funding, and deriding the effort at every turn.  It's about time we have some courageous political figure like Governor Palin to point out that this country does have a distinct lack of patriotism in some circles. We already know this is the truth, but it takes a real leader to state fearlessly that fact in an open forum in front of a hostile media. Sarah has what it takes to do that. Frankly we'd all be much better off with  a President Palin than a President Obama or a President Biden.
 
- Mike Silverman

John McCain and Sarah Palin must win this election.  We simply can not afford an Obama/Biden administration. The attempts to tear down Sarah and John are going to rise more and more over the next few weeks. We need to keep from falling into the trap of buying into those attacks and keep from falling into despair over polling numbers. DO NOT PUT YOUR FUTURE IN THE HANDS OF POLLSTERS! Liberal media pundits will try to dispirit you with unbalanced polling data. Pay no attention to any negative polling. We will win this if we just get out there and vote. That is the absolute bottom line.  Personally, I intend to be first in line on election day to cast my ballot for McCain/Palin and for any and all the Republicans running in my state of Massachusetts. No barking pundits out there trying to assassinate the character and quality of our candidates is going to destroy my enthusiasm to cast my ballot for them this November. No critique of debate performance will matter at all. We should make this the biggest Republican turnout in vote history. Let's embarass the Democrats by drowning them out at the polling booths and putting McCain/Palin in by such huge numbers that the liberal pundits will be choking on thier own tongues in disbelief. We can make this happen.

 Now, having said that, I need to vent my disgust about this economic bailout package the Senate passed. Would you like to know why in that AP poll 8 out of ten people say that this economic fallout with the banking industry will effect them?  Because  of all the screaming panicking pundits doing thier very best to scare people out of thier wits, pounding us every day, every night, every waking moment with insane tripe about the end of days for the united states, this has been a sickening display of howling self-serving elitists with delusions of grandeur wanting to call attention to themselves as the go-to illuminati of economic armageddon.  We need political leaders giving us positive reinforcement on the strong values of the American institutions that have made this the greatest place on earth to live, not prophets of doom crying about the apocalypse.  If we are in such horrible, awful dire straits, why are people all over the world still coming by the ten's of thousands to the US to seek economic prosperity? Have they stopped coming here?  No, even with some weakness in the current economy we are still the strongest economic power on earth. Now how many days has it been since the predicted doom of our economy?  Quite  few. And we're still in business, and not in a depression.  Also, John McCain is destroying himself by voting in favor of this bill. He can now no longer get up on the stump and declare that he is opposed to earmarks.  That nice little speech he likes to give where he takes his pen out of his pocket and waves it around, showing how he's going to veto any spending bill with pork in it is now an utter fairytale and he can be called on it all day long.  This was a terrible and unfortunate move for him. VERY VERY DISAPPOINTING.  I will still vote for John , but it will be much more an anti-Obama, pro-Palin vote, and much less a pro-McCain vote. This ridiculous vote has caused many Movement Conservatives to want to pull thier McCain dartboards out again. This is the frustrating behavior that Conservatives are so very familiar with from McCain's political career, sadly he has not learned anything at all from this campaign. He has not learned who has his back, namely the Republican base, he has not learned how to keep from alienating the base that he needs to carry him to the White House and give him a mandate. John McCain is a great man, but he can be an infuriating politician. Perhaps the saddest thing of all in this, is that his vote has POISONED Governor Palin. Now , as his running mate, she has to go out and support this asinine vote he made and defend his approving ridiculous earmarks.  If Senator McCain want's to ruin his own political capitol with his inane politics, fine, let him destroy himself, but how dare he drag down Sarah Palin with him? With one hand he did a great thing by giving Sarah Palin a huge chance to boost her political career and credentials and bring a real Conservative up to the forefront, and with the other hand he slaps her in chains and tosses her in the ocean. This is tragic.
 
- Mike Silverman

Republican politicians, and particularly Conservatives , are tougher than anyone else in politics today.  They need to be, since they are the endless target of nearly all mainstream press smears, screeching left wing zealots supporting every social taboo in existence, and backstabbing political colleagues in the Democrat party. If, despite all this, Conservative politicians stand fast on thier principles then they are by far the toughest politicians around this country today and very worthy leaders. By contrast, Liberal Democrat politicians today can be soft, squishy, and cowardly..., and still be liberal. They get petted by the media, cheered by the screaming extremists, and get thier way with jelly spined moderates in the Republican party. They need exert very little effort to be who they are.  And, Democrat politicians don't need to concern themselves that moderators at debates between Republican and Democrat might be lopsided conservative Republican supporters. They won't be. Never have been.  So, where does that bring us?  Nowhere.  The upcoming debate between Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden is being moderated by a woman named Gwen Ifill, who loathes Republicans. Wow.., that's a surprise ( not ). Here's a quote from the gracious Gwen Ifill commenting on Senate Republcians who, in 1998, defeated a bill for campaign finance reform, and Ms. Ifill was obviously not happy that the Senate Republicans expressed satisfaction at having done so..., Here's her quote...,

"It was a bill that was doomed to die. The last time you heard people so eager to claim responsibility for something like this, they were terrorists." — NBC reporter Gwen Ifill, February 27 Washington Week in Review on PBS. ( source = https://www.mediaresearch.org/notablequotables/bestof/1998/best7-9.asp )

Yes, she called Republicans terrorists. This is the fair minded level headed moderator who will be throwing questions of her own design at Sarah Palin.  Now..., don't misunderstand. I actually think this wonderful. What better way to contrast the differences between a strident Liberal extremist woman and a strong confident everyday Conservative woman?  Sarah will come out fine from this, and even more so if Ms. Ifill stoops to trying to sabotage Sarah Palin. If Ms. Ifill gets testy with her Sarah should just flash that friendly smile, answer the questions smoothly, and show that she's not the least bit rattled by spiteful left wing windbags. Nothing irks Liberals more than having no effect on the people they target.

- Mike Silverman , Milford MA

I think one reason among many reasons Republican Conservatives are energized as a group over Sarah Palin is that there is a palpable weariness of elected Republicans trying to out-liberal the liberals. The Republican base is fed up with the Republican party officials being worried about not being liked by the NY times, or CNN, or NBC, and always trying to court those biased media outlets by "modifying" thier tone. Frankly, though I love President Bush and respect him immensely, his "new tone" ideas really twisted the arms of Republicans to be more compromising with Democrats, but did nothing to make Democrats more compromising with Republicans. We see in Sarah Palin someone who is tough and confident that her values are right for her life and her family and wouldn't ask others to compromise their own personal values either for the sake of appearing cooperative at the expense of selling your soul. We see someone who knows the potential for people to be great without government making it happen for them. And perhaps most importantly, she is a leader who is a role model for all children of both genders that achievement and accomplishment are there for the making and taking if you have the drive. You don't need to be from an ivy league school, a law professor, an elite club member of the DC illuminati, you can be Sarah Palin , a basketball captain, a PTA member, have a full family life, and still reach for the stars. She restores confidence in the American idea that one ordinary person can make an exceptional difference, and that anyone can be great.
 
- Mike Silverman, Milford MA

It's easier to shout at authority when you're not in charge. When you don't have the responsibility of national leadership, you don't have worry about nation wide repercussions. Thursday night Senator McCain and Senator Obama attended a forum on the subject of National Service. It brought back to mind comments made by Senator Obama in July of this year when he criticized President Bush for "merely" telling people that it's important to resume travel and consumer activity after the terrorist strike on 9/11/2001.   Here's what Obama said about President Bush's so-called "failure" to call the nation to duty in the days after 9/11/2001,

"We were ready to step into the strong current of history and to answer a new call for our country. But the call never came"

"Instead of a call to service, we were asked to shop,"
 

Senator Obama thinks the President should have asked for people to commit themselves to public national service. Okay, fine. Senator Obama is entitled to his opinion. Here's my opinion.  George W. Bush is a dedicated leader, a decent human being, and an absolute gentleman, a man who has worked tirelessly at keeping the country safe, and has genuine faith in the people of the United States.  Listen up Senator Obama. President Bush was exactly right by first and foremost trying to ease the nation's concern about travel and commerce and conducting normal every day business after the terroist attacks.  It's this country's normal every day folks conducting business, working, traveling, shopping that makes the country function and is the source of our strength and stability. The President did not "need" to call people to national service , Senator, because he trusted the people of our fine country to see that need for themselves, and they did.  The call to national service, Senator Obama, was the calling card left by the terrorists. The President does not need to instruct citizens on what thier moral compunction should be. Obama shows a lack of faith in the citizens of the country to see and respond to a need for service. His remarks show that he believes people must be "told what to do and when to do it. That's not leadership in a Democracy, its monarchy in a top down micromanagement of people's lives. We don't need any of that.
 
Also, we saw Governor Sarah Palin being interrogated by Charlie Gibson last night. No matter how may times I have seen Gibson in the past he always comes across as a snotty pompous asss. He's part of the creeping rot infecting network news and I would like to have seen Sarah interview with a network that has higer ratings and wider audience such as Fox News Channel. Regardless, she did an outstanding job, did not heistate to give clear sharp answers to questions intended to test her knowledge of foreign issues and her personal resolve to be Vice President.  She presented herself well and did the people of Alaska proud and continues to win the hearts of people all across the country. She commits to a common sense practical approach to governance, and by the example of her life and her family she speaks volumes to citizens all across the country. Sarah is the kind of person you cheer for naturally because she's part of the real American experience. There's nothing contrived or phony about her. We love it when she gives that great smile of hers to the throngs of people who come to encourage her and stand with her because it's a reflection of the warmth and spirit of a common desire to feel good about our country. Sarah does that. She makes us feel good about the United States, and proud to share the same spirit and faith in the country that she has.
 
- Mike Silverman, Milford MA

Okay. So here we are.., Governor Sarah Palin will sit for an interview conducted by Charles Gibson.  It's certainly nothing unusual that a politician interviews with a news anchor.  Except for this one. What's so different?  I heard 7 different news media analysts say that this will make or break Sarah Palin. Isn't that special? Doesn't it give you a comfortable trusting feeling about these loose-jawed self-adoring network asses who where bred on pop culture icons that tumble out of American Idol and MTV's "reality" shows?  It doesn't ? Well, me neither. I have some "news" for you,  you styrofoam members of the press..., so-called ( ha-ha) "reporters"... you mirror gazing Divas of narcissism... you can't "break" what you didn't "make". Governor Palin is not a "news" phenomenon. Her appeal is so far beyond anything that the news media understands that they are actually puzzled at her popularity. They "don't" get it, and they "won't" get it, because they "can't" get it.  They don't know "us". They don't know "normal" people and what motivates us to admire someone who has leadership qualities that come from the basic fundamental core values of regular everyday folks. Sarah Palin is one of us. We don't "need" the media gods to introduce her to us. We don't "need" Charles Gibson to question her in order for us to know we have a person in Sarah Palin who understands where are, and what we want.  Sarah will give them thier precious interviews, but they are only fooling themselves if they think they will control her future. Sarah is going to DC as the next VP.  You rabid hyenas of the press can snap at her heels all the way to Washington if you want... but when she gets there the door will close in your faces and your fangs will have nothing to sink into and you will skulk back to your little dens of dubious media still puzzled over why she's so popular and why your ratings are running out like sand through a screen.

- Mike Silverman, Milford MA

We can consider whether the "lipstick on a pig..." comment Obama made was a backhanded or coded insult meant for Governor Palin, which frankly is kind of hard to rationalize. Obama obviously stepped in it with that stupid metaphor but I want to point something out. Listen carefully to the tape as he makes the analogy, the crowd was quiet until he uttered the words "lipstick on a pig..." at that moment, when he said "Pig"... the crowd began to cheer and scream thier approval. I really, truly honestly think "THEY" decided to make the connection in thier minds to Sarah Palin. It's rather obvious, even if Obama didn't mean it to be taken that way... you know that's why the Obama loyalists loved it. They loved it because they despise Sarah Palin because of her effectiveness and they want to see her muddied up, they want to see her cut down and will take any red meat they can get even if it's only thier own twist on a stupid comment.

- Mike Silverman, Milford MA