1. I don’t recall.

2. I don’t recall.

3. I don’t recall.

Read more »

Fifteen statements. 19,754 words. We read them all. You didn’t miss anything.

Sotomayor Opening Statements [TPM]

We’re not sure why everybody’s buzzing about Peggy Noonan’s hit piece on Sarah Palin — unless it’s that everybody loves a good catfight. Because as Paul Krugman points out, it’s more than a little late to take Peggy’s newfound respect for elites seriously.

And besides, last we checked, Peggy was advocating for the sweet mystery of torture. Do what you have to, but don’t bring it into the house, dear.

But since we seem to be stuck with it as a topic of polite conversation, let’s pick out a passage that’s been bothering us all weekend:

Her lack of any appropriate modesty did her in. Actually, it’s arguable that membership in the self-esteem generation harmed her. For 30 years the self-esteem movement told the young they’re perfect in every way. It’s yielding something new in history: an entire generation with no proper sense of inadequacy.

Read more »

Something’s not making sense.

Which isn’t news when it comes to Sarah Palin, but bear us out.

Talibunny’s minions claim she owes more than $600,000 in personal legal expenses. But back on June 21, the Alaska Daily News reported that a “conservative Web site” boasted of covering $100,000 of that in a week.

Leaving $500,000. And presuming absolutely nothing else was raised since April 24, when the “Alaska Fund Trust” was announced, including coverage in the Wall Street Journal. (SarahPAC, her other joint, doesn’t raise money for legal debts.)

Donations to the Trust are limited to $150, for reasons the organizers won’t explain, but by happy coincidence matches the Alaska cutoff for 30-day gift disclosures. Trustees promise to release a full list of donors in August, although legally the fund is free of official oversight.

So let’s do some math.

Read more »

In case you missed it — heaven knows why — Sarah Palin made the network rounds on Tuesday, explaining again why she quit like a coward self-effacingly passed the ball last Friday. And during one of her sandy standups, out popped this gem:

“I don’t think it will be the day after day after day of ethics violation charges that are frivolous, that are ridiculous. I think on a national level your department of law there in the White House would look at this, the things we have been charged with, and automatically throw them out, not make somebody hire their own personal attorney to get out there and fight.”

Of course, everybody jumped on the “department of law” reference, chortling at the latest example of Palin’s fitness for offices she doesn’t ditch. And Talibunny apologists said there really is an Alaska Department of Law, although it’s the same as justice departments elsewhere, and not part of the Governor’s Office.

But as we were considering amusing angles to play on the story, we stopped short.

Read more »

• ABC: Live coverage anchored by Charles Gibson.
• CBS: Live coverage anchored by Katie Couric.
• NBC: Live coverage anchored by Meredith Vieira.

Read more »