In 1988 David Gergen commented on Dan Quayle prior to his debate with Lloyd Bentsen after much criticism and doubt had surfaced about the Indiana senator's qualifications for the vice presidency.

"If Quayle shows up he beats expectations," Gergen noted.

The question that now surfaces is the situation Republican current vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin occupies.  Given the rocky sledding the Alaska governor has encountered, particularly in the last disastrous week with fallout over her less than awesome interview appearances with Katie Couric, it could be said that Palin will beat expectations if she makes it to St. Louis on debate day.

With the comedic onslaught about Palin with that epicenter being Tammy Fey's brilliant satires on "Saturday Night Live", in which some of her best lines were verbatim from transcript, some analysts have stated that with the bar being set so slow, or perhaps with no bar at all, the Alaskan can benefit by just being herself and seeking to avoid any serious gaffes.

The GOP has caved in on Guantanamo. Just a few days after the Senate approved an amendment stripping the detainees of access to the courts, Graham and the Republicans have caved in in the face of an impending lawsuit by Senator Jeff Bingaman and heavy public pressure on Senators. The Associated Press has broken the story.

The new bill is a compromise that will grant automatic access to the courts in cases where people are sentenced to over 10 years and the courts could have discretion to hear lesser sentences.

This case is significant, because it used to be that the GOP caving in on such an issue used to be unthinkable. But now, with Senators worried about their own reelection, the unthinkable is starting to happen.

When Dick Cheney was in Congress representing Wyoming he voted against a resolution calling for the release from a South African prison of Nelson Mandela.  That vote is consistent with his activities in the Cheney-Bush Junta.  With the aid of a submissively cooperative Congress, Cheney has used his position as acting prime minister as a bully pulpit to destroy constitutional liberties.

It was Dick Cheney who took the unprecedented step of traveling to the CIA to pressure operatives to make a strong case for war against Iraq.  He has recently been cited for his efforts to remove restrictions that have been in place for years for the military in interrogating prisoners, calling for greater latitude in the use of torture.

The Senate's shameful 49-42 vote on Thursday, November 10, to remove access to federal courts challenging the captivity of detainees in federal courts was an effort to reverse a landmark Supreme Court decision in the war on terror.  The vote prompted focus on the case of Jose Padilla, who was arrested on May 8, 2002 and has been held as an "enemy combatant" for the ensuing three and a half years in a South Carolina brig without any charges being filed against him.