Homey’s got issues (and not just McCain getting creepy on him). From the New York Post:

On his MySpace page, Johnston boasts, “I’m a f - - -in’ redneck” who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes.

“But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some s- - - and just f - - -in’ chillin’ I guess.”

“Ya f - - - with me I’ll kick [your] ass,” he added.

He also claims to be “in a relationship,” but states, “I don’t want kids.”

40 million people watched Sarah Palin’s speech the other night. Yes, more than the number who watched Obama by 2 million. This proves to me that we are a more curious nation than a serious, Reality TV over reality.

My big problem with the night–other than the fact that it was just nasty, dishonest Rovian politics all across the board–was that if Palin is really the new face of the GOP, then why have yesterday’s faces introduce her in yesterday’s fashion. You had Rudy, Romney and the Huckster all giving the same old spiel: Rudy lied once for every time he’s mentioned 9/11 in his life, which is no small feat; Romney managed to turn “liberal” into the new “fuck;” and Huckabee used a terribly dated Madonna joke. Just embarrassing.

Why not have Arnold and Bobby Jindal speak, even if they had to from location? Jindal speaking from a post-Gustav New Orleans would have been effective. If the GOP was really about change, it would have had a new face give the keynote address instead of Mr. Noun-Verb-9/11 as well. Why not former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who spoke earlier in the night? That would have been a smart choice.

Oh well, their loss. Instead of looking towards the future and selling change, they looked back and further connected the McCain-Palin ticket with the Bush-Cheney-Rove era.

One more thing…if Sarah Palin is such a little tough pitbull with lipstick, then why is she tucking her tail and going back to Alaska for a break? Why is she refusing to do interviews if she is so ready to take Washington by storm? I’m just asking…

…for every time I heard a Republican at the RNC say “Ronald Reagan,” I’d have as many homes as John McCain and Mitt Romney combined.  If you’re counting, that’s 11. This is getting ridiculous…are we looking back, or moving forward?

Amen, brother. To quote The Who, hopefully, people “won’t get fooled again.” Paul Loeb from the Huffington Post:

What makes Palin such a cynical choice is that McCain doesn’t know her and doesn’t know what drives her. Until she was selected by the Karl Rove types running his campaign (like campaign manager and Rove protégé Steve Schmidt), McCain might not even have recognized her on the street. Instead, she’s a category selection, made for the crassest reasons by the same kinds of political operatives who brought us George W. Bush.

Their motives are obvious: Palin is an energetic and attractive woman who just might pick up some disgruntled Hillary supporters. She’s a westerner and a hunter who might appeal to rural voters. She might energize a previously tepid base of hard-shell religious conservatives through her opposition to abortion even in cases of rape or incest. Hard right king-maker James Dobson just said that because of her he’d vote for McCain.

Sarah Palin. Pretty face. Neat story. Good person.

But she’s no Hillary Clinton. Hillary’s backers didn’t just vote for her because she was a woman, but instead because she was a woman who was a champion of women’s rights. Palin is nothing of the sort. That’s what makes this pick condescending to women. Hillary voters didn’t want just any woman–they wanted Hillary. I don’t think Sarah Palin will appeal to them. But I know Joe Biden–who wrote the 1994 Violence Against Women Act and has been fighting for women his entire career–will. I know Michelle Obama, a real champion of our daughters, will. I know that much.

Additionally, she has no foreign policy experience. Also, the little town she was mayor of before recently becoming Alaska’s Governor was about the same size of the crowds I played in front of as a high school football player back in the day. Is this the person we want to be a 72 year old’s heartbeat away from being Commander-in-Chief? That’s an argument that I’m sure Joe Biden is willing to have.

Yes, it is a neat story. I’ll give you that. But like Obama said last night, this isn’t about them–it is about us. Like Biden she has a neat story. Like Hillary she is a woman. Like Obama she is fresh and a dynamic speaker. But that is all she has in common with the powerhouses of the Democratic Party.

When it comes to the issues, she’s just like Bush, Cheney and McCain. Sarah Palin may look different, but in the end she is more of the same disguised as a pretty little Trojan horse. Maverick my ass.