***TOONS: Obama v McCain, Dems v Rethugs, Two-Front v Broke-Back***

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1. Obama to Palin: 'Don't Mock the Constitution'

Obama to Palin: 'Don't Mock the Constitution'

By Peter Slevin

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- Sen. Barack Obama delivered an impassioned defense of the Constitution and the rights of terrorism suspects tonight, striking back at one of the biggest applause lines in Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech to the GOP convention.

It was in St. Paul last week that Palin drew raucous cheers when she delivered this put-down of Obama: "Al-Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America and he's worried that someone won't read them their rights."

Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago for more than a decade, said captured suspects deserve to file writs of habeus corpus.

"The reason that you have this principle is not to be soft on terrorism. It's because that's who we are. That's what we're protecting," Obama said, his voice growing louder and the crowd rising to its feet to cheer. "Don't mock the Constitution. Don't make fun of it. Don't suggest that it's not American to abide by what the founding fathers set up. It's worked pretty well for over 200 years."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/08/obama_to_palin_dont_mock_the_c.html

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2. Mocking Constitutional Rights

Mocking Constitutional Rights

By Nat Parry
September 10, 2008

On the third day of the Republican National Convention, GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin mocked Barack Obama for believing that individuals accused of terrorism actually have rights under the law.

"Al-Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America,” Palin said, “and he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights.”

The implication was that those suspected of being terrorists have no rights under domestic or international law. The line elicited thunderous approval from the party faithful gathered in St. Paul, Minnesota.

As the GOP delegates cheered, civil libertarians were reminded of the contempt that the Bush administration has shown to basic legal principles in its prosecution of the “war on terror,” and the resounding approval these policies have gotten from the Republican Party as a whole.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/091008a.html

[zestfolly]

3. shred 'n' burn

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4. GOP tests out renewing U.S. 'culture wars'

Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer

Republicans have intensified their strategy to corral the undecided stragglers: reignite the culture wars.

This version won't be as explicit as conservative Pat Buchanan's 1992 GOP convention call for a "cultural war" or even the 2004 race, where anti-gay marriage referendums drove cultural conservatives to the polls in 11 mostly swing states. Instead, this battle will be fought under the cloak of the candidates' personal biographies. Using the GOP paintbrush, the race pits the "ex-POW war hero" and the "hockey mom" versus the Ivy League elitist and the career senator.

The culture wars are back on, baby," said MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, a liberal commentator whose "The Rachel Maddow Show" premieres on the cable network Monday. "Sarah Palin's speech was so hotly anticipated because so little was known about her. Who would have thought that she would have got up there and start channeling Pat Buchanan 1992?"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/06/MN3N12PFIQ.DTL&type=politics

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5. kick

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