Running From Reality by Bob Herbert If there was one pre-eminent characteristic of the Republican convention this week, it was the quality of deception. Words completely lost their meaning. Reality was turned upside down. From the faux populist gibberish mouthed by speaker after speaker, you would never have known that the Republicans have been in power over the past several years and used that titanic power to lead the country to its present sorry state. Let's Talk About Sex by Charles Blow A 2001 Unicef report said that the United States teenage birthrate was higher than any other member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The U.S. tied Hungary for the most abortions. This was in spite of the fact that girls in the U.S. were not the most sexually active. Denmark held that title. But, its teenage birthrate was one-sixth of ours, and its teenage abortion rate was half of ours.

Thought for the day:

There is no such thing as abstinence education. Either you educate, or you don't.

Editor's Notes & Rants:

Freudian honesty. Tom Ridge calls John McCain, "John Bush."

Feds shut down bank that John McCain's son drove into the ground.

"I did not have sex with that man, Brad Hanson, er Scott Richter." (What's the definition of "sex", again?) Sarah Palin cheated on her husband, had an affair with his business partner and best friend, who has now filed an emergency motion to seal his divorce papers (denied). Remember how the Republicans crowed about John Edwards' affair, when he wasn't even on the ticket? I'm guessing she'll withdraw her nomination by the end of the month. At any rate, it should be fun watching Dr. Dobson try to spin this to the Religious Right that, "she may be a whore, but she's our whore!" (I think I'll go out and buy some popcorn.)

Oh, and why doesn't either the hospital, or the State of Alaska have a copy of Trig's birth certificate???

Fun Sarah Palin satire videos:

Sarah Palin, Queen of the Alaskan Frontier

Sarah Palin Vlogs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Experience counts: Palin, as "commander-in-chief of the Alaska Nat'l Guard," never issued a single order.

Honesty counts: Palin lied about visiting troops in Iraq before Obama.

Bookburner for Jesus: Palin tried to get librarian fired for not censoring books as she demanded.

And you thought GW Bush had a knack for picking the least qualified person. Hey, I just realized: If Sarah Palin is qualified to be VP, then since I run this rinky-dink little website — I must be qualified to be White House Communications Director! w00t!