Here come the smears, and here comes the push back. So much for "politics of hope."

I've listened to the media suggest that the McCain camp was going to dump Gov. Palin off the ticket because it "wasn't popular" since Saturday. Last night, even PBS was in on the game.

Are you serious?

McCain has raised $8 million with Gov. Palin in less than 72 hours. The republican hq around here has been lit up with requests for signs and volunteering. If you saw any of the RNC last night, you would have noticed that Gov. Palin generated larger applause lines than McCain did.

So McCain should dump her because Keith Olbermann says so? The dude got himself banned from ESPN's campus. I'm pretty sure he's a lunatic.

Since Friday, we've heard that:

• The baby with down syndrome isn't hers (a lie, and a shameless one. I won't even link to it. It's on dailykos.com)
• We've heard all about her pregnant daughter (who, according to people in the town, has been engaged for some time and openly pregnant, this was no secret. It turned into a news release solely because of the dailykos garbage). Further, watching non-conservatives try to explain that conservatives have a hard time with this is painful. It's not just about the pregnancy - It's about taking personal responsiblity for that pregnancy. Thats a hundred times more relevant to conservatives and at the center of what the party stands for as a whole -- personal responsibility. Also, I wasn't aware that she was running for office. Obama's reaction to this and the down syndrome baby rumor is 100% on the money.
  
• We've heard that she was a registered member of a secession movement in Alaska because she gave a video address to their convention (a lie, and the McCain campaign produced party registrations for her entire life, all of them Republican)
• We've heard that her Husband had a DUI two decades ago (when Obama was still 'experimenting' with cocain, according to his book. Oh, and, her husband isn't running for office.)
• We've seen Democrats violate federal law and release her DOB, home address and social security number on the internet.
  
• We've heard that the McCain camp didn't properly vet her and only talked with her once (both lies, according to people we know on the McCain research team and according to the McCain camp itself)
• The 'revelation' that Gov. Palin once received a citation for fishing without a license (ZOMG! NOES!)
• She tried to fire her brother in law after he made death threats against their family. We'll know more October 31st when the investigation is done.
• We've listened to self proclaimed feminists talk about her choice to run for the White House as being bad parenting - as if anyone ever charged JFK, Bill Clinton, John Edwards or any other male politician seeking the White House with being a bad father because of it. (update: Or heck, Obama himself.)
  

Excuse me, but... What. The. Fuck.

Obama has ties to the weathermen and Rezko, McCain's a member of the Keating Five, and Biden and his lobbyist son received boat loads of cash to help pass a bill benefiting MBNA.

And we're going to throw mud on fishing without a license, being a "bad mother," and firing her wife beating brother in law? Sorry, but I learned a long time ago that 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' And frankly, none of this shit should matter. Over night, our entire country has turned into TMZ. In the midst of the "Who's yo' baby's daddy?" MSNBC and the like have been reporting on, we hit a major, major milestone in Iraq. I bet you can't tell me what it was, though.

We haven't even seen Gov. Palin talk on issues yet. The "politics of hope" campaign has turned ugly and it's turned ugly fast. Sen. Obama's on TV talking about how his campaign offers him more experience than her being a mayor -- conveniently ignoring the fact that she's a Governor of a state with 10x the employees, 10x the budget and 10x the power of his presidential bid. Oh, and more constituents than Joe Biden. Not to mention that her state controls the majority of our domestic energy -- a center piece subject of both campaigns.

The DNC and idiots like those on DailyKos have quickly led their party into the 'trap' that I felt the McCain campaign had laid. If Gov. Palin turns out to have teeth (which we'll find out more on tonight), McCain's gamble will have paid off big.

If it doesn't pay off for McCain, if Gov. Palin turns out to not be all that savvy, I think I've at least learned a whole lot about "politics of hope." It turns out its the same old tired tactics as before, just with a leftist lean.

Great.

First, I was born and raised a Hurricane fan. I don't intend to be just another person piling on the hate right now.

But my god. Butch Davis's work legitimizing the Hurricanes as a respectful college program has been completely erased, both in terms of play and behavior. How is Larry Coker still there? Ten years later, and all of the sudden SI looks like they were right.

UCF losing to Pitt by 50 doesn't seem so bad anymore. I'd rather have that than the garbage going on down in Coral Gables. It's college athletics. These are 18,19,20 year old kids. A fight in a sporting event, sure, that's one thing. Full on assault with potentially dangerous weapons and stomping players heads? Send these kids back to the streets of South Florida where they came.

And don't get me wrong, FIU is just as much to blame for this as Miami is. In fact, more so, they started it. But the reactions of Lamar Thomas in the press booth just epitomizes everything that was wrong with Miami when the program was on the verge of being shut down. How did he not mature any in the last ten years? You'd think after single handedly losing the national championship for Miami back in 1994, he'd be a bit humbled. If not then, his sub-par NFL career should have done it. But hey, being a local sports announcer for your alma mater instead, is, you know.. pretty cool too.

Fire Coker, Fire Lamar, pull these kids scholarships and focus on winning football games against teams a little bit better than FIU. Please.