TGO David

SOURCE: http://beldar.blogs.com/beldarblog/2008/06/alaskas-gov-sar.html If you're not acquainted with Gov. Palin already, you owe it to yourself to get up to speed. Start with Fred Barnes' July 2007 essay in the Weekly Standard. Barnes charts mostly the latter part of Palin's sharp-elbowed rise through Alaska politics as a reformer puncturing the well-feathered complacency of way-too-comfy Alaska Republicans. Barnes mostly omits her political start as a city councilman, and then (beginning in 1996) the successful two-term mayor/city manager, of Wasilla; as mayor of that fast-growing Anchorage suburb, she reduced property tax levels while increasing services and drawing in new industry. She was also elected head of Alaska's conference of mayors. After a narrow 2002 primary loss for lieutenant governor, in 2004 Palin, from her appointed position as chair of the Alaska Conservation Commission (the state agency which regulates oil and gas), complained to "[then-]Governor Frank Murkowski and to state Attorney General Gregg Renkes about ethical violations by another commissioner, Randy Ruedrich, who was also Republican state chairman." Rebuffed, she resigned — but then deftly proceeded to drive all three of them out of office, finally triumphantly besting incumbent Murkowski in 2006 by capturing 51% of the vote in a three-way GOP primary. Palin then won handily (and against national trends) against popular former governor Tony Knowles in the 2006 general election. (Campaign slogan: "New Energy for Alaska.") Of course, in between his apologies for his boneheaded connections to convicted influence peddler Tony Rezko and his Congressional earmarks to Michelle's employer, Barack Obama can talk a very good game about the (toothless and ineffective) ethics bill he co-sponsored (along with many other senators) in the U.S. Senate. But Sarah Palin actually risked her entire political career to take on her own party's entrenched leadership, and then thoroughly and effectively cleaned house in the largest state in the Union. Between her and Obama, who's already proven him- or herself more likely to provide the "change you can believe in"? This spring she used her line-item veto to cut $268 million from state spending bills — in a state that, comparatively, is flush with money, which makes pork projects almost irresistible. She resisted, and it appears that she's going to make her vetoes stick. That's the antidote to Bridges to Nowhere! (Which she opposed, by the way; the federal money originally committed to it, she's now re-directed into more appropriate infrastructure programs.) As governor, she's also pushed hard against other entrenched interests, including the energy companies (BP, ConocoPhilips, and ExxonMobil) who hold the lease rights to much of Alaska's oil and gas wealth. She is a fierce, knowledgeable, and articulate advocate of responsible development of Alaskan resources to benefit not only its own residents — who actually pay among the nation's highest gasoline prices and have the least access to affordable and clean natural gas — but also the other 49 states, and she recognizes that this is not just a matter of economic necessity, but ultimately of national security. Palin has spoken out and brought suit to prevent radical environmentalists from exploiting the ridiculous naming of the polar bear as an endangered species, showing no hesitation to stand up against them or their well-wishers in the federal bureaucracy. Yet she and her family are enthusiastic outdoorsmen — engaging in ice fishing, hunting, and snow-mobiling (her husband has won the 2000-mile Iron Dog race four times). Check out this campaign video of her and her family loading up their single-prop float-plane (not a corporate jet!) with sporting gear — that's got to be at least as cool as Obama shooting hoops. http://palinforgovernor.com/Multimedia/thepalinfamily.MOV It doesn't hurt that Gov. Palin is attractive and photogenic. (She was not, as Jonah Goldberg recently wrote, Miss Alaska, but she was Miss Wasilla; last December Vogue Magazine came to photograph her and her three daughters back in Wasilla; and comedian Craig Ferguson declares that she has a "sort of naughty librarian vibe.") But she's climbed through local and state politics on her own — not based on who her daddy or her husband is (or was) — and listening to her talk on energy policy or any other substantive matter for about 30 seconds (e.g., in this interview with Glenn Beck, starting at about 4:25) will definitively dispel any notions that she's skated by on good looks. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3jnbiHAMuY[/ame] And yet Palin seems to be, insofar as one can ever tell from the media reflections, pretty well grounded — still very much your average soccer or ice-hockey mom in addition to her other roles. I really liked this video, too (alas, may only work in Internet Explorer), taken by a local TV station as she and her daughters first arrived at the newly-vacant Governor's Mansion. (I love it when the youngest daughter, Piper, is chastising the older two, Bristol and Willow, as they check out the attic!) Gov. Palin's first-born and oldest son, Track, isn't shown in that video because he enlisted in the Army on September 11, 2007 (he's volunteered to serve in Iraq). http://www.ktuu.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=1131686&h1=Palins%20are%20here&vt1=v&at1=Video And finally, this story about the Palins' brand new infant son, Trig, born just a few weeks ago, leaves me literally teary-eyed in admiration at her and her whole family's faith, love, and courage. Suffice it to say that Sarah Palin's pro-family, pro-life credentials are absolutely compelling. More (generally pro-Palin) punditry, weighing her political pros and cons as a Veep nominee: Josh Painter; Thomas Cheplick; Jack Kelly; Rush Limbaugh; AllahPundit; Ace; John Fund; Don Surber; Glenn Reynolds; Ann Althouse; Brian Faughnan; and a Palin for VP website. Is she as ready to step into the presidency at a moment's notice as would be, say, Fred Thompson? No. But Thompson, as much as I love him, isn't going to be the Veep nominee; he and McCain together would look like they're running on the Whig ticket. Palin's local and state-government experience is as good or better, though, than that of Charlie Crist and some of the other youngish governors who've been mentioned. (All governors tend to be weak on national security credentials, but that, fortunately, is where McCain is strongest.) And although it hasn't yet been on a national stage, Palin has been an elected public servant, starting at the local level and rising to her state's highest office, since before Obama himself was ever elected to anything, even though she's two years younger than he is. "Sarah Barracuda," she was nicknamed when she led her high school basketball team to the state finals. I'm reminded, thinking of possible inaugural balls, of the old line about Ginger Rogers — that she did all the fancy footwork and artistic dance steps that Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire could do on the dance floors, except backwards and in a ball-gown and heels. Afterwards, though, Gov. Palin would switch to her North Face gear, shoulder up her 30.06, and hop on the snow-mobile with one of her daughters to go track down some more moose meat for tomorrow's supper. Sarah Palin is walking, talking, governing proof that feminism, motherhood, and conservatism aren't inconsistent. Of course, Alaska and its three electoral votes are not "in play." But shoring up even a single big state like Florida or Virginia or Ohio through a favorite-son Veep candidate is small-ball — maybe a bunt that might or might not produce a base hit, and that might or might not score a run. I'm thinking that to unite the GOP's conservative base, peel off more independents and some disappointed Clintonistas, continue taking the wind out of Obamamania, and match Obama for sheer coolness, McCain may need a genuine four-bag home-run on the boards from his Veep nominee. I'm thinking that Sarah Palin may just be all that.

Frankly I don't have time to sit around micro-evaluating photos or searching to make sure something isn't photoshopped. I copied and pasted directly from another forum so sue me. I've removed the horrible photoshopped picture and replaced it with three more pictures illustrating my point. I've tried to find one of Gov. Palin in a burka so that it would fit better into the new puritanical stance that we are suddenly taking around here, but alas there isn't one available.

Likely not for what you would get out of it in trade right now.

And so you did!

As did I. But the liberal media has gladly flaunted Obama's sex appeal so it warms my heart to see the GOP bringing a gun to a knife fight. Remember this?

Apparently you were transfixed on the photo I posted of Gov. Palin and didn't notice that one of the bullet points in my associated quote referenced gay marriage. Specifically, that she vetoed a ban on gay marriage in Alaska because it was un-constitutional. Despite her own position against it. To me, that speaks volumes. She's not letting personal belief systems sway what is right in accordance with the Constitution.

Climb off the cross. First of all, my daughter, wife and mother haven't posed for photographs dressed like that. Second, obviously she didn't see it as being sexist so I don't imagine she needs you coming to her aid, Sir Lancelot. Third... she's attractive and we've had that shoved down our throats for the past few months regarding Obama's physique and sexual appeal to a lot of women in this country. McCain obviously isn't much to look at. So is it a bad thing that some of us have pointed out that she's hot and is bringing some sex appeal to the GOP? Didn't think so.

The Obama Administration won't be banning Rolex watches so I can tell you right now which of those will have more value if that hack gets elected.

For the casual consumer, definitely 200% agree. Enterprise support is actually pretty good.

Ah, dude... so you're a swooner aren't you?

Oh look, she likes AR15's also! [ame]http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=QFjqZ_vvLNc[/ame]

Metallica's new album "Death Magnetic" is due out in just a few days and reportedly kicks much ass. We'll see. Their last two have ranked pretty high on the Suckmeter as far as I'm concerned.

Sarah Palin, Gov. AK And she's hot. Just throwing that in there for the sake of discussion.

Too bad she's not black AND a woman, then everyone on the other side of the aisle could be super pissed!

For the first time ever, I'm excited by a Vice Presidential candidate.

If he does the job right the first time, he won't have to worry about protecting her from prison now will he? Answer to the impending question: Would I go to prison to protect my daughter? You bet your happy ass I would. To quote a movie... [ame=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=sMGMZsKXz94]Yes they deserved to die and I hope they burn in hell![/ame]

It's very hard to stalk someone when you're in the hospital with two broken legs and a cranial fracture. I think the guy seriously needs to lose his footing in front of a Greyhound bus.

Split it 50/50 between you and your wife, keeping in mind that if momma ain't happy then nobody's going to be happy. Then take your 50% and buy one nice firearm for yourself. One nice $650 firearm is going to be better than two or three crappy sub $300 firearms.

Alright... I've had it with the religious-centric threads and commentary on TGO. I'll be updating the Code of Conduct later to reflect my annoyance with this stuff, but when commentary becomes "preachy" it needs to stop. I don't go to church to talk about guns, and I don't come to TGO to talk about religion.

This gentleman needs some good old fashioned wall-to-wall counseling. Google it.

Not a bad choice for a laptop.

The bulging generally occurs around the case web. Since .40SW cartridges are loaded for a fairly high case pressure already, the potential for case failure is exacerbated by the unsupported chamber design. Especially if the case was already weakened by being run through an unsupported chamber previously. The photo below shows the typical failure: Most of your competitive Glock shooters run custom barrels (Storm Lake, Wolff, etc.) in their .40SW models. These barrels have a better supported chamber design, so case bulging isn't as much of an issue and shooting reloads isn't as problematic.

The .40SW Glocks have a partially unsupported chamber. When you fire rounds through them, the unsupported area will bulge slightly. Conventional wisdom is that you don't want to reload a casing after it's been run through a 40-caliber Glock as it will have this problem to one degree or another.

Were you guys using these by any chance?