A bi-partisan report running 1000 pages was released in Alaska today concluding that Sarah Palin abused her power as governor to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the state police force, but violated no laws.

I guess this is the kind of governance we can expect if Sarah Palin takes the office of the Vice President. Suddenly Dick Cheney’s shoes don’t seem quite so big, and Palin is certainly a better shot.

The Obama campaign released this video earlier in the week, perhaps in part to answer the question “Who is Barack Obama” often posed by McCain and Palin at their recent rallies, just before someone yells “Kill Him!” or “Terrorist!”

It is a pretty moving piece, full of moments “between” the moments.

In a political environment where his opponents and their supporters attempt to dehumanize him, it’s important for people to see this. Please share it with your friends…

The initial reviews are in and it’s not terribly good for McCain. Republicans are pulling out their yard signs and praying for the lives of their family and children.

Obama was THAT good.

Obama was poised, his answers substantive, and deflected McCain’s attacks with aplomb. But once again McCain dug deep into the history books for guidance, quoting Theodore Roosevelt’s famous line “Talk Softly and Carry a Big Stick” when discussing Pakistan. And this wasn’t the first time McCain has gone to that well. In the first debate he invoked Dwight Eisenhower to enforce a point on accountability, that was later to be found incorrect. While these are certainly important historical figures and we owe much to them, they have little or no impact on the modern voter.

For me the most memorable moment of the night is in the clip below when McCain referred to Obama as “That One” in a rather dismissive, perhaps even disrespectful tone, with regards to an energy bill that Obama voted for and McCain voted against.

I’m glad for Obama that McCain wasn’t actually carrying a stick.

As VP candidate Sarah Palin discussed Barack Obama’s alleged ties to William Ayers at a rally in Clearwater, Florida (surprise) today, one of her fervent supporters shouted “Kill Him!” Palin failed to rebuke them and moved on with her allegations. It’s now abundantly clear the McCain campaign is happy to foment it’s base into an angry frenzy to get them to get out and vote against Obama and his “terrorist pals“.

And earlier today at another rally, McCain allowed one of his supporters to call Barack Obama a terrorist without so much as a blink.

I’m not asking the candidates to control their supporters, I know that’s pretty much impossible. But at least call them out when they make such outrageous and incendiary statements. But they can’t even bother to do that. Just imagine the outrage on the right if something like this had happened at an Obama rally.

This is what the race has boiled down to. And we all may suffer for it.