“Sounds like a punk band. Are they good?” (HT: jen-sized.net)

This is eerily close to home — literally. David Kernell, a 20-year-old student who graduated from Germantown High School right here in Memphis, is being considered a prime suspect in the hacking of Governor Sarah Palin’s personal Yahoo! email account. Kernell, a student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville is the son of TN State Representative Mike Kernell (D-Memphis).

This story is still developing, but information points to Kernell’s connection to the screenname “rubico”, one which he apparently used in 2004 on another website. More details will emerge, but this is kind of disturbing and, sadly, deflates my theory about it being an inside job.

State rep says son focus of Palin e-mail hacking rumors : State and Regional News : Knoxville News Sentinel.

OTHER LINKS: The Jawa Report, The Commercial Appeal

A couple of days ago, word came around that Governor Sarah Palin’s personal email at Yahoo! had been infiltrated by hackers who post on the internet website 4chan. Through some methodology, they had been able to compromise her email, take screenshots, and then post them before a conscientious objector to the activity changed the password back.

The invasion of the Governor’s privacy has raised a number of questions about the privacy & security of public email providers, furthering concern and speculation that such use by government officials to conduct official government business would fall outside the realms of disclosure.

Months ago, Governor Palin admitted openly to routinely having used public email, even prided herself on the choice. Now that the email has been compromised, people on all sides were given a clear, if momentary, glimpse into what amounts to, essentially, very little: nothing untoward was revealed whatsoever. Quite the contrary: it bolstered confidences of people who supported Governor Palin, both sympathetically and contextually, for using public email in her practice as governor of Alaska.

Meanwhile, the CIA and the FBI appear to have become directly involved in tracking down the people (or persons) who infiltrated the governor’s privacy, a completely appropriate action in light of who, and what, was being tampered with. Blame has been placed on someone who, in the eyes of some, must clearly be an Obama supporter — someone who wanted to blow the whistle on some form of corruption. It has stimulated response from both Republicans and Democrats, denouncing the fiendish motivations behind such actions, creating increased finger-pointing by people who were already looking for reasons to chastise one side or the other.

The media has wondered, publicly, how such an attack could have occurred. But in the media’s coverage of this debacle, a series of critical reasoning flaws and motives have been overlooked.

Chief among these logic problems, to this writer, seems simple: what if it was merely an “inside job” by the McCain camp meant to discredit Obama supporters and create a firestorm of controversy?

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I woke up from a sort-of fitful dream scenario in which John McCain happens to die before the November election cycle. This sad, yet highly oddball twist led to Sarah Palin leading the Republican ticket — a ticket on which she managed to get a sympathy vote and become President of the United States.

John McCain’s final gaffe, selecting her to be his running mate, led to an outcome of critical proportions as we struggled to regain a foothold in the world economy, our creditor nations deeming us unfit to continue to invest in and, summarily, leading to the collapse of our weakened infrastructure. Under Palin, we maintained a course towards apocalypse, one in which the things taught in Revelations came true which, ultimately, led to annihilation and destruction in our major cities.

It is the hope of people of intense religious faith, as you may be aware, to push along the notion of “making Revelations come true”, a twisted, psychotic notion of intentional, albeit likely subconscious, “might makes right” behavior. I have no complaint with the concepts of Christian faith, but I take umbrage with extremism and sanctimonious behavior for the sake of completing some puzzle.

So, and with all due love & respect for Eli Parisier and the other fine folks at MoveOn.Org, whose email campaigns about John McCain’s health have riddled my inbox for weeks now, please hear me: you want him to stay fit and healthy for the next 48 days. You’d better pray like hell that he does.

For anyone else who thinks I’m kidding, look at the poll numbers since Sarah Palin energized the party. If John McCain makes it to election day, I believe firmly that Obama can (and will) win. If not, then in this scenario, Sarah Palin suddenly becomes the most disturbing kind of x-factor in this race, one from which America will never recover.

Think about it.

” CHICAGO (AP) — A few weeks after cheering presidential candidate Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, Oprah Winfrey will take up a different kind of political activism.

Monday’s episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will be dedicated to a Senate bill targeting child predators, according to a release issued Friday by Chicago-based Harpo Productions.

During the show, which will detail the “extent and pervasiveness of child pornography trafficking in America,” Winfrey will ask viewers to contact their senators about U.S. Senate Bill 1738, the Protect Our Children Act, Harpo said.”

TBO.com – News From AP.

photo credit: Barack Obama

The 2008 Presidential election was never going to be simple. For a time, it seemed that the tide was moving in one specific direction; today, it is turning into a hotly-contested political contest fueled by innuendo and distortions the likes of which the American people have not seen in many years.

On the left, Barack Obama, the presumptive favorite of the American people (based on their feeling about the issues affecting them) has been solid and steady about his promise to bring change and reform to Washington since proclaiming his run for the presidency in February of 2007. There is Senator Joe Biden, one of the lowest-level income earners in both public service and Congress, whose very direct grassroots style and deep connection to the common people of America have earned him immense respect and the Democratic vice-presidential nod.

On the right, the self-proclaimed “mavericks” whose messages represent the policies which we have lived with for the past eight years. The right’s two personalities, John McCain and his running mate Governor Sarah Palin, have proven effective in their quest to transform the campaign messages of the left and make them their own, repackaging the notions of “change” and “progress” by distancing themselves from the current White House and introducing Sarah Palin, a virtual ringer, into the contest for the White House. The process has been effective: the Republicans were able to stop the bleeding using Palin’s limitless charm as a security blanket for a race which seemed lost to them just weeks ago.

Obama has, for his part, handled matters with kid gloves up to this point. It’s not because of his unwillingness to fight but out of a genuine fear of being caught in the “catch-22″ of being mislabeled by undecided voters in the short run to election day. Obama has run a positive campaign and one which has been based on the issues. He has proven himself a remarkable public speaker, a man whose genuine concern for the welfare of our country comes across as honest rather than pious. He is a man of great intelligence and forethought, one who speaks with a no-nonsense ease about what he believes in and never shies away from answering tough questions.

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Obama plans sharper tone as party frets – International Herald Tribune.

I feel so terrible for Obama. If he says nothing or doesn’t attack back, they think he’s weak. If he speaks up and lashes back, they call him sexist. I just hope he continues to stay focused on the truth.

Only the truth will set us free.

Senator Barack Obama stopped in Dover, New Hampshire today to hold a forum on what his tax plan would be as President of the United States. Responding to a question from an audience member at his “Discussion on Tax Relief for the Middle Class” regarding his tendency not to engage the Republican attack ads, Obama answered by explaining, “My philosophy…is that I’m going to tell the truth.” Expressing his viewpoint, Obama invoked a sentiment that people often use, telling the audience member in no uncertain terms that he would continue to respond to false or misleading attacks by the McCain camp with a simple retort: telling the truth about who they are and what they stand for. “If you don’t stop lying about me,” Obama said, “I’m going to have to start telling the truth about YOU.”

New University of Alaska mascot: pregnant teen whose baby is also pregnant.

(Courtesy of Spencer @ Goldenfiddle).