As Jon Stewart shows here: (Warning: There is one naughty word). Teen pregnancy. Women candidates. Qualifications for office. It's all covered.

Now that the conventions have passed and a Republican star is born, it's safe to say that experience isn't the issue that's carrying the day.

We can tussle over who has more experience, but the two candidates who have energized the election the most are newbies to the political scene, when compared with McCain and Biden.

My conclusion is that voters crave change over experience. That's why President Bush is keeping his distance. I think from here on out you'll see both campaigns explain why they're best suited to bring change.

Do you agree? Is this a good development?

UPDATE: OK, the GOP convention isn't over. Comes from starting a Saturday column on Thursday.

The news of the day has to be Sarah Palin. Back, back, back, back, back ... yep, it was a home run.

But did it win you over?

The Onion is one of my favorite sources of non-news, though I understand its slick look has deceived more than one reader into thinking it contained legitimate news, not satire. This morning's Onion article about John McCain is entertaining because of its insight into the challenges newspapers face during times like these.

So when did everyone turn into Mariner announcer Dave Niehaus? Palin's selection was a home run. Her speech tonight will be a home run. My oh my, why is everyone using the same metaphor?

1. Baseball is patriotic?
2. Deference to her career as a sports anchor? (See video above).
3. Cliches rock!
4. Other

(Photo by Rajah Bose/The Spokesman-Review.)

Our Civic Elder series continued today with Leonard Doohan, a retired Gonzaga University dean who writes books and does workshops on leadership. His latest book Spiritual Leadership: The Quest for Integrity has a lot of insights for leaders of all stripes.

Some excerpts from our conversation:

Most great leaders have had a personal experience that shatters them, a confrontation with the inner self in which they've discovered their destiny. They're never the same. That kind of transformative experience is what I'm looking for in a leader.

Many organizations are over-managed and under-led. Many people in top positions don't have a leadership bone in their body.

How can voters recognize transformational values in a leader? Look at organizations they've worked for and their decision-making there. If they didn't have transformational values then, why would you presume they'd do it at a higher level?

Who was the best leader you've ever worked with --- and why? Blog lines are open.

The Palin drone is irritating some of the customers here at MOO. What about Obama? Where's the details on him?

Remember that whole flap over the New Yorker cover? The worst part is that it overshadowed the excellent in-depth article about how Chicago shaped Obama's politics. Here it is.

Here's a shorter article from the Wall Street Journal.

Here's a look at his years as an instructor at the University of Chicago.

Thoughts?

What's that spell? Our View on the push for public funds to renovate Husky Stadium.

What's your view? Did we nail it or did we Coug it?

Can't stop yawning this morning. Got plenty of sleep. Coffee at my side. Can't quite put my finger on it.

Is Joe Lieberman speaking again?

Here's your open thread for wide-awake commentary.

Here's an open thread to discuss Joe Biden or something. You remember Biden, right? Right?

Here's a good New York Times article on the reaction of mothers to Sarah Palin. At the end, it mentions Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who has a child with Down syndrome.

This blog is mentioned in the article. Mothers in Portland weigh in, and when the NYT article appears, people from all add their comments.

This is also being discussed at S-R's Parents Council blog. You can chime in there or here.

(S-R Photo of McMorris Rodgers and son, Cole, in May 2007)

OK, not much going on. A bit of a storm in the GOP camp. Gustav has blown over.

Say, how about that Pig Out in the Park!

What's on your mind?

The long debate has secured improvements to the plan, and a federal appeals court has speedily rejected further protests. It's time for Idaho to proceed with the Sandpoint bypass on U.S. Highway 95. So says Tuesday's editorial.

We know that McCain first met her in February. I believe their appearance in Dayton was the second time they've been together.

The fired public safety commissioner says he wasn't contacted by the McCain camp about Troopergate (that's the name it's been given in Alaska).

McCain mentions that Palin turned down the Bridge to Nowhere. But did he know that she was for it before it became a laughingstock?

Did McCain know that Palin pushed for and got a state tax on oil company profits, which is the same thing Obama wants to do on a national scale?

Now, the news that Bristol Palin is pregnant. Did McCain know that? The campaign says he did and the only reason it was announced now was to bat down rumors. (And they were bizarre. Namely, that Trig is Bristol's child).

But did they think it would never come up? Sarah Palin must've known this pregnancy would grab national attention and shine a spotlight on her daughter. Wonder how she processed that information while accepting the VP slot.

McCain sure grabbed the news cycle with the choice. Now he's going to have it again ... maybe longer than he'd like.

Have to say this is one of the more bizarre election years. And that I feel sorry for Bristol.

Back when the field of 2008 presidential candidates seemingly numbered in the dozens, I found myself hoping for an Obama-McCain final. There were two people who had shown enough independence to deal with ideological conflict as honest, respectable differences of opinion. Both had shown an ability to see merit in the opposition's case and to join forces across party lines in the interest of a solemnly held value.
With candidates like that on the ballot, maybe we could have an enlightened, constructive and informative campaign.
So far, I think the candidates have done a pretty good job of voicing their cases without some of the mean-spirited pettiness that has become common in years past. It's all relative, of course.
Still, as some of the evolving threads on this and other blogs show, the leaders may be trying to show the way, but the followers have gone off along tired old paths of negativism.
In my opinion, it's a sad reflection on the candidates if the most their backers can do is trash the opposition.
If that's the what the campaign promises, we'll have missed a rare opportunity.

The Baby Boom generation is starting to exit the work force stage. Monday's editorial suggests the Boomers ought to consider a curtain call.

All politics, all the time. Today's "Our view" offereings include a comment apiece on the nomonations (or nomination to be in one case) of Barack Obama and Sarah Palin.

Do you remember the flap over demolishing the historic Mowawk and Rookery buildings? Have you followed the conflict that has ensued over the trees surrounding the parking lot that's there now? Today's editorial brings you up to date.

Worst point of the day about Sarah Palin comes from Steve Doocy of Fox News. He explains how Palin does indeed have foreign policy experience. More than Joe Biden. You just have to listen to appreciate it.

How do you feel about John McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate -- bypassing such big names as Romney, Ridge and Pawlenty?

Or, does it not matter to you because of Obama's rousing speech last night?

(AP photo from December 2007)

UPDATE: Since Gary says I buried the lede, I will mention out front that Sarah Palin is a Sandpoint native and a product of the U of Idaho journalism program. Also, I have already spoken with one caller who was quite impressed with her acceptance speech. He said McCain would do well just to keep up with her.

The controversy over euthanizing stray cats in Spokane continues. Friday's editorial talks about it, and you can, too.

Another muggy afternoon is drawing to an end. Once you've loosened your collar and found a cool breeze to stand in, take a few minutes to pick up this loose thread and share your thoughts. Who knows what kind of conversation you will have sparked by tomorrow morning.

Should health care workers have the discretion to withhold treatments or medicines from patients because of their own moral or philosophical concerns about the people, procedures or prescriptions involved? Today's "Our view" tells you what we think, and we invite your responses.

The endless presidential campaign of 2008 has perhaps made it seem anticlimactic that a mixed-race candidate who is perceived as African-American could be nominated as a major party's nominee for president. I've been moved watching the reactions of black delegates at the Democratic National Convention. I don't know about others, but I don't think you have to vote for Obama to take pride in this milestone.
I was a little young to appreciate the significance of Jackie Robinson's accomplishment, but I still remember the day a few years later when my father felt it worth noting that the technical college where he taught was going to have (his words) "a colored boy" on the football team that year. Still, growing up in a predominantly white timber town, I failed to absorb the social gravitas of what was going on. Then, maybe 15 years later, I was in the Army, stationed at Fort Lee, Va., when several of us decided to stop for a beer after work -- but had to limit our choices because some of us weren't welcome in some establishments. Doug Floyd, meet Jim Crow.
To me, this is a historical day.

A few days ago, one poster alluded to...

a LEED certified building on SFCC's campus that is not being "managed" the way the contractor developed it because the Union will not train and effect the maintenance staff in the specified methods to make that building as energy efficient as possible.

I've looked into that and the SFCC facilities director is scratching his head. In fact, he tells me the energy-efficiency aspects of the sn-w'ey'-mn building at SFCC (the name is Inland Salish for "place of commerce") is entirely automated. No "human interface" is necessary.

If anyone has more information on that, I'd like to hear some details. Or if it's unfounded, I'd like to clear that up as well.