Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Left Hook
There is further evidence that the nomination of Sarah Palin for vice president has sent elements of the American left around the bend. Juan Cole, a professor at the University of Michigan, writes on the liberal Web site Salon.com that Palin, a Bible Church Christian, is a religious extremist.
“What is the difference between Palin and Muslim fundamentalists? Lipstick,” Cole said.
Another Salon writer, writer-at-large Gary Kamiya compares Palin to a whip-wielding dominatrix who he says is attempting to seduce independent voters, adding that the GOP is now the party of sex, women and fun. In language that can’t be used here, he says delegates were sexually aroused by Palin.
Salon’s bio of Kamiya, by the way, says his background includes “a brief LSD-riddled stint at Yale.”
Vicious Vendor
Meanwhile, someone posting on the liberal site DemocraticUnderground.com created a fake eBay page claiming to sell Governor Palin’s youngest child, Trig. The media watchdog site NewsBusters.org, a conservative site, reports it read “baby used prop newborn boy three to six months special needs.”
The bogus page included a picture of Palin holding Trig during the Republican National Convention. The starting bid was $40 and the page listed Trig Palin’s father as unknown. It also included a description that called Governor Palin a “pushy social climber, unwilling to let pregnancy and children stand in the way of ambition.”
The fake auction posting is no longer on the site.
Citizens of the World
The latest U.S. polls show John McCain with a slight lead over Senator Obama. But a new poll from the BBC indicates people across the world would overwhelmingly rather see Obama in the White House.
In fact, people in all 22 countries covered in the poll would prefer to see an Obama presidency by a margin of 48 to 12 over John McCain. People in 17 of those countries said if that happens they expect relations to improve.
Obama’s margin of favor in the poll ranged from nine percent in India to 82 percent in Kenya, his father’s homeland. More than 23,000 people were questioned in countries ranging from China to Indonesia and across Africa, Europe and South America.
Reverend Rendezvous
Remember Reverend Jeremiah Wright, embraced by Barack Obama after his anti-American rants became public and finally disavowed after he repeated them at the National Press Club? Well, the New York Post is reporting that Reverend Wright has destroyed one woman’s marriage and her job.
Elizabeth Payne tells the Post, “I was involved with Reverend Wright, and that’s why I lost my job and why my husband divorced me.”
Payne had been an executive assistant at a church led by a popular Reverend Wright protégé in Dallas, Texas. She has since filed a wrongful-dismissal claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Church officials deny any wrongdoing and say that Payne was terminated because she misrepresented her resume.
Her husband Fred Payne says he first learned of the affair in February when he discovered e-mails between Wright and his wife. “There must have been about 80 of them... Wright said things like he was going to leave his wife for Elizabeth,” he said.
— FOX News Channel’s Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.
