[UPDATE]

In a USA Today/Gallup poll taken Friday, only 39% of respondents say Palin is ready to serve as president if needed, 33% say she isn't and 29% have no opinion.

That's the lowest vote of confidence in a running mate since the elder George Bush chose then-Indiana senator Dan Quayle to join his ticket in 1988. In comparison, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden was seen as qualified by 57%-18% after Democrat Barack Obama chose him as a running mate last week.

***

[UPDATE]

"“I have known and worked with Sarah for over a decade - from her service as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, in her role as president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors, and most recently as our Governor. She is attentive to her job and family, brings people together, and is able to make tough decisions."

- Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, indicted last month for not reporting gifts from an Alaskan oil company.

***

Apparently the Republicans think they're pretty stupid.

Like Sarah Palin is Hillary Clinton. They're both women, right?

Apparently, the McCain folks think that women who supported Hillary Clinton because of her pro-woman, pro-family policies, will have their eyes bug out looking at Palin's anatomy and vote for her in some sort of Pavlovian response.

Being an ex-almost-beauty queen, I can see some guys doing that, but women? Hillary supporters?

Really? You're going with the beauty queen runner-up?

This woman is so far out of her league that the thought of her in the White House is such a stretch it makes one's head hurt.

Sarah Palin as Commander-in-Chief sitting across the table from Putin?

Sorry, but, "Ooooooooh. Sarah 'Barracuda'."

Palin has been the Governor of Alaska for less than two years, and is very popular there. When your state surplus is large enough that you can mail each and every citizen a check for a thousand dollars, I guess you should be popular.

As Rush Limbaugh so eloquently said today "We're the ones that have the babe on the ticket!"

Sarah Palin, we know Hillary Clinton. And you, ma'am, are no Hillary Clinton.

The ruling by the California Supreme Court on Thursday, declaring full legal equivalence of same-sex marriage, is more welcome evidence that homosexuals are on their way to achieving equality as citizens under the law.

The court ruled that California’s domestic partnership law, which provided virtually all of the legal rights and obligations that go with heterosexual marriage, did not satisfy the Constitution. In essence, marriage is marriage in the eyes of the law.

Unfortunately, as basic as this ruling is, it will likely be some years before the majority of states fully recognize the rights of our homosexual citizens.

Many Americans willfully claim a right to discriminate against gay, *** and transgender people. Some claim that their personal religious beliefs somehow override the legal rights of gays.

Many are obviously frightened by homosexuality, as though they might be persuaded or tricked into becoming homosexual.

This bigotry and ignorance, especially common among Americans over a certain age, is likely to take a lot of work to overcome. Those who feel self-righteous in their religion, the fundamentalists of all sects, will "defend" their "God-given" right to fight the tide of equality, and even feel justified in harassing and condemning homosexuals. It's likely that hate crimes, including murder, committed against gays will continue for some time.

As with race, religion, national origin, and other distinctions among them, the younger people in this country are far more accepting of their gay friends than are their parents. It is perfectly natural to them that those who are in love and committed to one another should be able to get married.

Unfortunately, many of them have suffered the consequences of their parents' marriages coming apart due to a lack of commitment. To them, any talk about "protecting" marriage from committed gays makes absolutely no sense.

There is growing recognition, by citizens and by the courts, that homosexuality is a matter of birth, and though it is a different way of thinking and feeling, there is no moral or legal justification to delay the arrival of full civil rights for our homosexual citizens.

Addendum:

Senator Barack Hussein Obama has delivered this country a gift. He has opened the door to a serious discussion of the ongoing role of race, and racism, in our society.

If all you’ve seen is the clips on the news, you owe it to yourself - you owe it to your country - to watch the entire speech.

Don’t rely on the analysis of the commentators. Invest the 36 minutes to watch the entire speech. It’s on YouTube.

Many people expected Obama to simply denounce the Reverend Wright. They thought that he would take the usual tactic of saying whatever he thought would appease his critics, and then move on, trying to keep race out of the election.

Instead, as he is uniquely positioned to do, Obama made a sincere attempt to lead this nation into an honest conversation about, as he put it, the “racial stalemate” that we have been in for so many years.

Obama talked about the anger and frustration of blacks at crumbling schools and children who can’t achieve, about the disappearance of decent jobs and pensions that allowed black parents to support their families. About banks and mortgage and insurance companies that have systematically denied blacks the opportunity to buy a house and accumulate familial resources to be passed down through the generations. About how the lack of opportunity has resulted in so many young people turning to drugs and winding up in prison.

These problems are real, he said. They are not just in the minds of black people.

But he also addressed the frustrations and issues facing whites, who feel that the economic security that they have worked so hard for is being taken away, about their fear of crime and the blight that creeps from one neighborhood to the next, and a resentment of attempts to address the effects of slavery for which they personally bear no responsibility.

He pointed out that many, in both politics and religion, have used these fears to bring their flocks together. And it has to stop.

Each one of us has stereotypes, misconceptions and even fears about those who are different from us, not just by color but also by religion, politics, nationality and sexual orientation, or a dozen other ways.

In a masterful speech, Barack Obama warned that if we do not address the issues confronting us together, we cannot make the changes that are necessary to move this country towards “a more perfect union.”

This is a speech you need to hear.

Geraldine Ferraro was, up to now, one of my heroines.

There’s a Mondale-Ferraro button still buried somewhere in my sock drawer.

She ran for Vice President and, to be honest, that was enough to secure her a place in my personal pantheon.

Today, however, she fell from grace.

I understand being passionate for your candidate. In Geraldine’s case, that would be Senator Clinton. But her appearance on the NBC news this evening was entirely self-serving, and could not but hurt the Democrats.

Her comment about Obama’s position as a contender being due to his race is ridiculous. When has being black ever been an advantage for any position in this country other than being accosted while fishing in the Oconomowoc River?

She kept saying, “I don’t want this to be news!” while seated across from Ann Curry on the NBC Nightly News set.

Here’s the thing. The Dem’s are honestly, and painfully, discussing both race and gender issues, and it makes many people damned uncomfortable. There are so many cultural landmines here that injury is practically inevitable. So why do we keep on pushing?

Because equality for all Americans – both genders, all races, all sexual orientations, all religions, (including none), may be the law (or not), but it is the right thing to do. It is the American way.

The Republicans are so far behind on issues of civil and human rights that it is disgraceful.

So, as always, the Democrats appear to be in disarray, because they are honestly trying to address the real issues facing us all.