Sarah Barracuda

from the song the RNC used to hail Sarah Palin:

If the real thing don't do the trick
You better make up something quick

I want to keep a few links on articles about Sarah Palin, and this seems as good a place as any to do it:

Daily Kos: Real Vetting Roundup

from Palin's preacher:

And if Zephaniah were here today he’d be saying, ‘Listen, He is gonna deal with all the inhabitants of the earth. He is gonna strike out His hand against, yes, Wasilla; and Alaska; and the United States of America. There’s no exceptions here—there’s none. It’s all.’

9/8/2008:
Talk2Action on Sarah Palin's churches, including a 10-minute documentary video. (later: Palin and her Pentecostal African witch-hunter) More here.
ThinkProgress dissects that Nowhere Bridge.

9/9/2008:
Politico article: Koch endorses Obama, calling Palin "scary".

9/10/2008:
Newsweek casts light on the abuse of power issue.
The LATimes has something to say about that bridge, as does TalkingPointsMemo. More posts about Palin from TalkingPointaMemo are here and here.
DailyKos examines how Alaska's oil policies affect the lower 48 states and make Palin's Alaska a de facto OPEC state and explains how Palin bought her very own National Guardsman.
The Wall Street Journal on Palin's financial troubles with that "not rocket science" mayor job.
Matt Damon has some questions. Good questions.
The Huffington Post discusses Palin's Apocalyptic religious beliefs and offers links to background information. There's more, including links and videos, on her church's belief system here. They have more on Palin.
The tabloids are having fun.

9/11/2008:
from Time:

Sarah Palin thinks she is a better American than you because she comes from a small town, and a superior human being because she isn't a journalist and has never lived in Washington and likes to watch her kids play hockey.... So maybe Governor Palin does represent everything that is good and fine about America, as she herself maintains. But spare us, please, any talk about how she is a tough fiscal conservative.

RogerEbert's opinion.
Sarah Palin's town charged rape victims for their forensic tests until the state forbade the practice:

Knowles broke new ground while answering a reporter's question on whether Wasilla forced rape victims to pay for their own forensic tests when Palin was mayor.

True, Knowles said.

Eight years ago, complaints about charging rape victims for medical exams in Wasilla prompted the Alaska Legislature to pass a bill -- signed into law by Knowles -- that banned the practice statewide.

"There was one town in Alaska that was charging victims for this, and that was Wasilla," Knowles said

9/12/2008:
DogEmperor is concerned about Palin's Dominionist connections and has links. Another DogEmperor post with further information on this subject is here. More here and here.
There's some background information on dominionism here at CorrenteWire

9/13/2008:
There's been a lot of response to Palin's debut interview. Beliefnet has one.
LAProgressive: Palin is "racist, sexist, vindictive, and mean".

9/14/2008:
DailyKos continues to buzz about Palin. This link is to posts tagged "Palin".
DotCommonweal has been following Palin and has reflections and video from her recent interview. Part 2 is here. Links to their other posts on Palin are here.
The New York Times has a story on Palin: "Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes". Excerpt:

Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.

Also in the NYTimes a columnist looks at what kind of president Palin might be. More on Palin from the NYTimes is here.
The Washington Post (here or here) has a story about Palin's responsibilities as mayor of Wasilla:

The universe of the mayor of Wasilla is sharply circumscribed even by the standards of small towns

Newscoma has the “Lipstick on a Blog” edition of the weekly Tennessee progressive blog roundup here.

The Art of the Possible has had several reflections on Sarah Palin's selection, experience and responses to questions. Todays post ends with this conclusion:

There is no moral or political obligation to vote for Barack Obama necessarily — there are quite a few defensible arguments against supporting Senator Obama — but to vote McCain-Palin is simply unconscionable.

The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan has had a steady stream of posts on Palin (and McCain and the election in general), but I can't find tags, subjects or any way to link to particular topics at his place. Today he says

Well, despite being cut off from most links from the right-wing blogosphere, the Dish has now reached its highest ever Technorati ranking (an "authority" ranking based on linkage, not outright traffic), but traffic itself has roughly doubled since I began my airing of all we can find out about Sarah Palin's Manchurian candidacy.

so there are lots of folks listening to his take on this.

Here is a report, including video, on the huge turn-out at the Alaskan Women Reject Palin rally.
MoveOn.org has facts about Palin.
Soma Review is starting a Palin Watch.

9/16/2008:
I thought it would never happen, but David Brooks finally admits (while bashing "the left" on the way) Palin's not ready:

Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.

Washington Monthly reports the McCain campaign calls the SNL skit "sexist" because it suggests Palin lacks substance. The reporter dismisses that claim and explains the idea of "comedy" to the McCain campaign.
Harper's Magazine has had several articles on Palin, including one on how teen-age unwed pregnancy is a good thing as long as the child isn't aborted.
Hockey Moms for Truth: "She betrayed us in the past." "I am not a pit bull!"

The New Yorker:

Now, let’s talk about slogans. Ours is: Country First. Think about it. When you think of what should come first, what does? Us ourselves? No. That would be selfish. Our personal families? Selfish. God? God is good, I love Him, but, as our slogan suggests, no, sorry, God, You are not First. No, you don’t, Lord! How about: the common good of all mankind! Is that First? Don’t make me laugh with your weak blinking! No! Mercy is not First and wisdom is not First and love is super but way near the back, and ditto with patience and discernment and compassion and all that happy crap, they are all back behind Country, in the back of my S.U.V.
...
Sarah Palin knows a little something about God’s will, knowing God quite well, from their work together on that natural-gas pipeline, and what God wills is: Country First.

More from The New Yorker (not all of it's funny) is here.

The Washington Post on McCain's choice:

His opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir -- the person in whose hands he would leave the country -- is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president. McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not.

Palin for President! Michael Palin, that is. "Apparently anyone can run the free world these days, so why not?"
The Daily Show
Stephen Colbert

MSNBC reports that Palin says "Thanks but no thanks" on that cooperation with the authorities idea:

Though the governor initially said she'd cooperate, after she became McCain's running mate in late July, her lawyer sought to have the three-member state Personnel Board take over...

Now

Palin is unlikely to speak with an investigator hired by the state legislature to look into the matter.

NPR covers women's reaction to Palin:

The Republican Alaska governor-turned-vice presidential candidate is a polarizing character in an already fractured electorate.

ABC News details Palin's lack of transparency, ending with this: "Palin was introduced to the public 18 days ago and has yet to hold a press conference."
Pharyngula discusses Palin's creationism.

Susan Straight speaks from the perspective of a middle-aged Methodist mom of teen girls:

Very soon, I hope we can talk about something beyond the autobiography of Sarah Palin. (The per-diem story, where she got paid to stay in her own house, was appallingly funny, though. I can't imagine someone paying me to stay here, on my block where the aircraft is the police helicopter, in my house with all these animals and kids and the bathroom to clean.) I hope tomorrow someone talks about corn.

Rachel Maddow interviews Frank Rich. Here she interviews Bill Maher.

9/17/2008:
Via several reports I'm seeing the Matthew 25 Network's call to Sarah Palin

to recommit herself to campaigning in good faith, with a strong commitment to truth-telling.
...
to repudiate her attitude of contempt towards her political opponents and to tell the whole truth, not only for the sake of a more honorable politics, but also for the sake of our Christian witness in the world.

Billy Mires on that bridge: "She wasn't lying; she was just telling her own special maverick-truth."
DemocracyNow reports on Palin's environmental cover-up.

The Huffington Post has an article on how Palin's religious beliefs shape her foreign policy views which includes this information:

It's already well known that an Israeli flag sits in Palin's governor's office in Juneau. What's not as well known is that Palin's home church as governor, Juneau Christian Center, is hosting an event on March 5 2009 sponsored by the Rev. John Hagee called "A Night to Honor Israel." This is the same John Hagee who Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) eagerly sought out for an early endorsement, then soundly rejected

Donald Craig Mitchell does a weekly Palin Primer. This week's edition has several stories including one about the controversy over Palin's use of a yahoo account for official email and her claim of executive privilege for emails that had been copied to her husband. There are links there to other articles on this story. MSNBC is also talking about Palin's legal troubles, specifically those poor neglected subpoenas of her staff. Newsweek is also interested in these ethics concerns.

SouthernBeale digs into those energy claims.

Via GetReligion comes a SHNS report that suggests that

When it comes to faith and politics, the values of McCain's "handpicked running mate, Sarah Palin, more resemble those of Muslim fundamentalists than they do those of the Founding Fathers. On censorship, the teaching of creationism in schools, reproductive rights, attributing government policy to God's will and climate change, Palin agrees with Hamas and Saudi Arabia rather than supporting tolerance and democratic precepts.

"What is the difference between Palin and a Muslim fundamentalist? Lipstick."

Wired.com reports the hacking of Sarah Palin's email account.

They found someone besides "Charlie" who would show Gov. Palin the proper "deference": excerpts from the Hannity interview. Palin said,

the people of America are not fully satisfied with all the — all the dealings within the party.

"Not fully satisfied?" Yeah, you could say that.

9/18/2008:
According to CorrenteWire and others the hacker that gained access to Sarah Palin's yahoo account turns out to be the son of a Tennessee state representative. (Days later the grand jury has not indicted David Kernell.)

9/19/2008:

TNR:

To the right, the mere fact that the press questions her fitness proves that she is one of them.

As the original rationales for Palin melt away, this bond has become unshakable. Her lack of qualifications turns out to be her greatest qualification.

9/20/2008:
several links were lost due to some kind of weird blogger glitch, and I can't be bothered to hunt them down and stick them back in. There were several about the hacking of her yahoo email account.

9/21/2008:
Newsweek says,

The point is that she comes to us, seeking the second most important job in the world, without any intellectual training relevant to the challenges and responsibilities that await her. There is nothing to suggest that she even sees a role for careful analysis or a deep understanding of world events when it comes to deciding the fate of a nation.

RichardDawkins.net asks, "what is Palin's faith and how exactly has it influenced her policies?"

Mother Jones on McCain's choice of Palin:

So if the McCain/Palin ticket is elected, you should know what to expect. Although John McCain may once have openly refused to subscribe to the beliefs of the Republican Party's religious right, famously describing them as "agents of intolerance," his selection of Sarah Palin is a message (and not just to the Party's fundamentalist right): If you thought that he understands the need to kick our fossil-fuel addiction and address global warming, if you believed his promises to build a green economy, forget about it. A McCain/Palin administration, just like the one before it, will continue—and this is the best-case scenario—to fiddle while the planet burns.

9/23/2008:
Beliefnet and others can't help but wonder why Sarah Palin still won't take questions from reporters.

Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic wants us to keep our eyes on Palin's lies. They list each lie and link to explanations, then conclude:

You cannot trust a word she says. On anything.

Lawrence Lessig has a video that compares Sarah Palin's level of experience with that of every other VP ever and concludes we cannot take this risk.

9/24/2008:
Politico, and many others, are covering Palin's press-shy meetings with heads of state of foreign governments. It seems she's gungry for the photo-ops since she looks good, but she's loathe to actually field unscripted questions from the press since, what maybe she isn't as good as she looks?
This new Washington Post-ABC News national poll says Palin's unfavorable rating has gone up 10 points in the last 2 weeks. Her favorable views have gone down significantly among Independents, especially independent women and has dropped 20 points among college-educated white women.
ADN says Troopergate is all about revenge. DailyKos calls it "spite".
A Fox News poll show slipping figures for Palin, with voters liking Biden better for VP.
The Katie Couric interview.
Maybe the real reason McCain wants to "postpone" the presidential debate is so the VP candidates won't have one at all.