John McCain never should have released Sarah Palin’s name.

When introducing his Vice Presidential nominee, the Senator should have just stuck her on stage and hung a sign around her neck that read I’m a Young, Pretty Female who Loves Guns and Hates Abortions.

Those are, after all, the only qualifications McCain could have cared about when he chose the Governor of Alaska as his running mate.

In the four days since the announcement of this nobody was made, the following revelations have already come out about her:

• On July 31 - of 2008! - Palin told an interviewer that she had no idea what the Vice President does all day;
• Her husband, Todd Palin, was arrested in 1986 for drunk driving;
• Her daughter, Bristol Palin (pictured below), is 17 years old and pregnant;
• The father of Bristol’s baby - classmate Levi Johnston - has written on his MySpace page that he doesn’t want children.

Any of these facts on their own could be overlooked. Or perhaps even all of them, if Sarah Palin was a foreign policy or economic expert.

But she’s being billed as a “hockey mom,” someone who is running on a family values platform. That makes these bullet points legitimate news stories, while also makes us wonder if McCain spent more than 10 minutes vetting Palin.

According to Cliff Schechter’s new unauthorized biography of John McCain, The Real McCain, the presidential candidate is quite temperamental.

So much so, apparently, that he once dropped the c-bomb on Cindy!

The book claims that during a 1992 campaign, the Arizona Senator called his wife the most revolting term for a certain female body part during a bitter tirade witnessed by three reporters and two staff aides.

“At one point, [Cindy McCain] playfully twirled McCain’s hair and said, ‘You’re getting a little thin up there,’” Schechter writes.

“McCain’s face reddened, and he responded, ‘At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*nt.’ Cindy McCain just gave an embarrassed smile and remained silent,” the account says. “The other people in the bus didn’t say anything, either. Everyone was utterly speechless.”

The Real John McCain: It’s not a pretty sight!

Asked to comment on the c-word claims, the McCain campaign denied everything, with aide Tucker Boundes saying: “This is tabloid trash… it has no basis in fact. It calls into question the journalists that report on this.”

Schechter, however, stands by his explosive claims (which are hardly new, and are among a long list of issues surrounding John McCain that we believe deserve closer media scrutiny), telling MomLogic.com:

“First of all, I wouldn’t have put this in my book if I wasn’t 100 percent confident that it was true. I heard this story from multiple sources, and little details matched up exactly when I talked to more than one person. And, although his staff has denied the claims, McCain himself has never denied the story directly, and I would bet you any amount of money that he never will.”

Moreover, Schechter says that the c-word incident is indicative of why American women, and mothers in particular, should be wary of John McCain.

“Look, he called his wife a c-word. If I called my wife that, I think I’d be living under a bridge somewhere - and rightfully so,” he said. “If you don’t want your daughter to grow up in a world where women are callously referred to as c-words, then do your homework on John McCain.”

What do you think? Do you believe John McCain called Cindy McCain this awful term - and would it change your opinion of him if he did?

President George W. Bush was presented with a plant by students on his trip to Northern Ireland (further elaboration and caption rendered unnecessary).

Excessive coolness and pop culture appeal alone won’t carry Sen. Barack Obama to the White House, but it certainly never hurt anyone.

Witness the cover of the new Us Weekly.

Up there with The Hills’ Lauren Conrad, the pregnant Angelina Jolie and scandalous Linda Hogan is … America’s potential next First Lady!

Michelle Obama, who hosted The View yesterday, has been a lightning rod for controversy throughout the campaign. But she also holds youthful charisma, intelligence and wit that many Americans identify with and gravitate to.

Really, what’s not to love about Michelle Obama?

Growing up on Chicago’s working class South Side, she excelled at Princeton and Harvard Law and now, like mothers everywhere, focuses on keeping romance alive, as well as the difficult balancing act of her career and family.

The Obamas. They’re just like us! Okay, maybe not. But better them on the Us Weekly cover than the opposition. You don’t see John and Cindy McCain getting free publicity like this, do you? No, except when she steals recipes.

The sad reality of modern-day political wrangling seems to make the development of a progressive, sustainable energy policy almost impossible.

We need bold and transcendent leadership, a blueprint that will not only revitalize our economy, but reverse the damage we’re doing to the planet.

Instead we get … John McCain advocating offshore drilling! Woo!

At this point, it should be blatantly obvious to just about everyone that change is inevitable - the only question is whether it will be a quick transition to an economy powered by new energy sources, or a slow and painful decline, powered by our inability to read the increasingly clear writing on the wall…

NOTE: This political cartoon was created by and is property of journalist, cartoonist and friend of Donkey Dish, Andrew Wahl. Visit his blog, Off the Wahl, for more!

We could post 1,000 video clips to demonstrate the greatness of the late Tim Russert and still not run out. You can’t sum up the man with one two-minute excerpt, but we came across this topical one over the weekend.

Here’s Tim Russert (may he rest in peace) taking GOP nominee John McCain to task over his Iraq policy and its inherent contradictory nature …

“After the last eight years, even our dogs and cats have learned that elections matter.” - Al Gore

Urging Americans to reject the Bush legacy of incompetence, negligence and failure, former Vice President Al Gore - who has become the de facto Democratic standard-bearer in the past seven years - endorsed Barack Obama Monday.

Gore said George W. Bush and his cronies have “dishonored and disrespected” the Constitution and led our country through “eight years of the most serious foreign policy mistakes in the entire history of our nation.”

[NOTE: Did anyone else watching this get the feeling that this guy would make an excellent Vice President? Just throwing it out there]

At a campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan, Al Gore called for Americans to move past partisanship and select, in Barack Obama, a great leader who can solve the global climate crisis and create a brighter future for the U.S. and the planet.

He didn’t stop at foreign policy and climate change, either.

Al Gore cited myriad concerns about the environment, lead-painted toys and food safety - even pet foods - as other reasons to vote Democrat.

Joining Obama in the midst of the Democratic nominee’s two-week tour of the U.S. to talk about ways to revitalize the economy, Monday marked Gore’s debut in this historic, often contentious 2008 election.

Gore praised Barack Obama as someone who could mobilize people, young and old, who had never before taken part in the political process.

Follow the jump for some terrific Al Gore quotes from the rally …

Continue reading this article …

Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, has once again cooked up controversy - by shoplifting a recipe.

And this time, Bill Clinton is also implicated!

Cindy and Bill, along with Michelle Obama, submitted cookie recipes for the 5th Presidential Bake-Off in Family Circle magazine.

It appears, however, that the former president and Cindy McCain swiped their recipes from well known sources, The Huffington Post says.

The July issue of the magazine features a recipe for “Cindy McCain’s Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies.”

“They are an absolute must whenever the whole family gets together,” Cindy McCain raves to Family Circle. Mmm hmm.

The only problem? It appears copied from Hershey’s website.

Following the lead of Cindy McCain in cookie-gate is none other than our 42nd President! Although Bill Clinton attributes his oatmeal cookie recipe to a longtime family cook, the recipe is identical to a Betty Crocker recipe.

Really. Again, The Huffington Post published both.

This isn’t the first time Cindy McCain has come under fire in the kitchen - earlier this year, a McCain intern ripped off some of Rachael Ray’s recipes, posting them as “Cindy’s Recipes” on her husband’s campaign site.

See, and people say Michelle Obama is not American enough. At least she can come up with her own recipe … or be stealthy enough not to get caught.

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected unconstitutional George W. Bush-era detention policies - locking up terrorists indefinitely without trial.

One would think, from the reaction of the certain justices, presidents and aspiring presidents, that we had just set hundreds of terrorists free and given them our expressed, written consent to plot another 9/11 catastrophe.

But there 5-4 decision in the case of Boumediene v. Bush merely gives enemy detainees a constitutional right to habeas corpus.

In short, enemy combatants held in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere may now challenge the legal basis for their detention in a federal court.

Here’s a brief breakdown of what the decision - once again the product of a crucial swing vote by Justice Anthony Kennedy - does and does not do.

• The ruling DOES uphold the fundamental right to habeas corpus, part of the legal system for, oh, a few centuries. The long and short of it, as a legal expert explains to us - the government cannot arrest and detain you without a legitimate reason, basically. Sorry, George.

• The ruling DOES ensure that Guantanamo cannot be the lawless society the administration has made it (and which is why detainees have been held at the base, away from actual U.S. soil, for six years now).

• The ruling DOES say that laws enacted by Congress at the administration’s urging do not circumvent individuals’ right to habeas corpus.

• The ruling DOES NOT close Guantanamo.

• The ruling DOES NOT order all detainees who have not been charged with an offense to be released, nor does it set a timetable for this.

• The ruling DOES NOT specify what factors the courts should consider when deciding whether the government can hold them, despite its stating that enemy detainees are entitled to a “prompt habeas hearing.”

In short, because the Boumediene v. Bush decision is rooted in the actual United States Constitution (imagine that) and not federal statutes, it’ll be much harder for Bush and Congressional cronies to continue doing what they’ve been so diligent at - drafting new laws to keep the courts out of this.

Tragic news from the world of media and politics today:

Tim Russert, the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News and long-time moderator of Meet the Press, passed away today. The 58-year-old died of a heart attack.

Tom Brokaw reports that Russert collapsed at NBC News in Washington while managing audio footage. He is survived by wife Maureen and son Luke.

Tim Russert: May 7, 1950 - June 13, 2008.