First of all, how dare anyone compare Palin's experience to Obama's? True, Sarah Palin was Governor of Alaska and mayor of a rural town 30 miles north of Anchorage. Yet, Barack Obama was the first African-American President of the Harvard Law Review! Do you have any idea how brilliant and talented a person needs to be to hold that position? And not just to hold it, but to become the first minority to hold that position? I'll give you a hint, its way harder than becoming a sportscaster covering high school football in Anchorage. As for ethics, Obama did what few people would ever do in his position. He gave up a life of luxury after graduating from Harvard Law School, to help empower some of the poorest communities in the Nation. How could anyone question the ethics of Barack Obama in making that choice? Do you think people make decisions like that because they think it will make them President? I guarantee you working at a huge corporate law firm and establishing contact with Wall Street power brokers is much better for a career in politics than being a community organizer in Chicago's Southside.
As for Palin, the press has thus far only dwelled on a few small items. That Sarah Palin supported the bridge to nowhere before she opposed it; and that she wasn't completely truthful about her claims about firing a chef and selling the Alaska Governor's airplane on E-Bay. Thanks for pointing that out morons. Anything else you have to tell us?
How about the fact that Sarah Palin publicly stated that U.S. involvement in the Iraq War is "God's Plan"? Might we then assume from that statement that she believes it is the duty of Christian soldiers to kill Muslims? Might we then assume that she'll have no qualms with collateral damage (i.e. dead Muslim women and children caught in the line of fire)? After all it's "God's Plan".
Do not forget for one second what Sarah Palin brings to the Republican ticket. She carries with her an extreme Christian Right viewpoint where religious superiority and dogma are considered ethical principles. She carries with her a belief that Creationism should be taught next to Evolution. She carries with her a belief that homosexuality is a crime. Remember the overturning of anti-sodomy laws in Texas did not occur until 2003. We can guess where Sarah Palin stood on that judgment, given that her church believes they can cure the "disease" of homosexuality. That's right, she not only opposes gay's right to marry; she opposes their right to exist!
So, we know Sarah Palin believes it is God's Plan to kill Muslims and that we should teach our children that the earth is a few thousand years old. How about another topic: The economy. Just how did the Sarah Palin Administration run a surplus in the Alaska State budget? Might it have to do with oil prices increasing from about $60 a barrel when she took office, to a peak of nearly $150 a barrel during the spring of 2008? Can you imagine what this meant to the economy of the 2nd largest oil producer in the United States?
And what about sexism? Is the criticism of Sarah Palin fair if she is a woman? Well, last I heard women in this country wanted to be treated equally. When you are nominated to be Vice President behind the oldest 1st term Presidential Candidate in U.S. history, scrutiny is to be expected, no matter your gender. Sarah Palin's VP candidacy is a sick joke on the American people. She is a religious extremist with no credibility or experience. I even heard one GOP pundit express disgust that being a "Hockey Mom" wasn't a qualification for Vice President. Since when is being a Hockey Mom a qualification for being elected a heartbeat away from the Presidency? Isn't this the same crowd that went apoplectic when Harriet Miers was named a candidate for the Supreme Court?
The appalling hypocrisy of this choice for Vice President is apparent to all in the media. However, they refuse to report it. They want to give equal voice to a reasonable and sane Democratic ticket, compared with the Republican ticket which has articulated an unbelievable and cynical affront to public discourse and the American intellect. With all that Barack Obama has accomplished in his life, he is seen as an ing+Źnue, yet with the little Sarah Palin has accomplished, she is seen as a reformer with results.
We have not heard a health care plan from the Republicans, nor an economic plan, nor a foreign policy plan, nor an Iraq plan, nor an energy plan. We've heard all of those things from the Obama campaign. Yet, the press is committed to equal time for both parties. Only during Hurricane Katrina did it seem that the press let out their disgust and blame for one side over the other. They did so, only because people were dying on rooftops and suffering in starvation in the Superdome.
Is it only when people are dying in front of our own eyes that we finally expose hypocrisy and demand action? I'll tell you something right now: Sarah Palin is an embarrassment to America. I don't care what her gender is. Her gender has nothing to do with the fact that she is a complete blowhard, with extremist views completely distant from core American values established by the Founding Fathers and 232 years of Democracy. Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a woman with all the talent, experience, and judgment to be President. Sarah Palin is no Barack Obama either.
You know who Sarah Palin can be compared to? George W. Bush. And we all know how that turned out.
Don't let the press get away with this chicanery. Write letter's to the editor. Copy from this blog if you want; I don't care! Let's shoot this idiot down before she ends up in the White House!
Silence is what I am hearing. Hell MCCain and Palin are invoking Hillary's name to their benefit. Meanwhile Hillary stays silent.
I am starting to wonder about her motives. Or am I wrong?
BTW, didn't Obama do his stint as a community organizer between college and law school? After law school, I thought he went to a civil rights firm in Chicago and to teaching con law. Which doesn't affect the basic point you made.
As far as her popularity goes, the GOP has it pretty easy. If trusted authorities (Limbaugh, Dobson, et al) give their stamp of validation, the faithful will take the rest on faith -- no evidence needed or wanted -- just plain old assertion and repetition seems to work the magic.
After 8 years of Bush too, I think they've got the packaging and the appeals down to a science. The GOP brain-trust understand what motivates and moves their base better than the base knows itself.
Essentially, the Palin supporters are using several arguments, all of which are not relevant to the Presidency. First, she has executive experience. Yes, a year and 9 months in one of the smallest states in the union. Before that she was mayor of a town with only 8,000 residents! 8,000! Fairfax County has 1 million residents! Gerry Connolly for President! Talk about small time. I was the executive in charge of a lemonade stand when I was 8, but that doesn't make me ready to be CEO of Tropicana. The Yankees don't hire a little league coach to be their manager do they? Second, she has a child in the military going to Iraq. So do my parents and millions of other parents across the country who are not qualified to be the commander in chief. Again, not a good selection criteria. Third, she was commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard (for 1.75 years!). The Alaska Army NG has only 8,500 troops, and Governors have no operational title 10 authority over the NG - the Pentagon controls all operational decisions regarding deployments, etc. I'm sorry, but I want the commander of millions of U.S. troops engaged in two complex counterinsurgency wars to be a little more knowledgable about the military. Fourth, she's the mom next door. I don't want my next door neighbor to be President, after all she's a nice lady, but I want the MOST qualified person out of our 300 million, not someone with 5 dogs and 2 feet tall grass in the back yard. Fifth, she's a quick study. So are most run of the mill graduate students, what do you want a cookie? To me these are all very lame arguments that folks are trotting out.
For some, folksy country homespun charm may be the deciding factor, so be it. We need to put the Access Hollywood stuff aside and ask if candidates are the most qualified Americans to carry out the duties of the Presidency. Riding a snowmobile may be cool, but I it won't help you fix social security. Being an interesting person to have over for dinner is fine, but do you know the complexity of dealing with the Russians, Iranians, and North Koreans? Maybe I'm crazy, but after Bush, haven't we demonstrated what happens when unprepared lightweight Governors who are not widely traveled get into office?
What is created in the media can be destroyed in the media.
The polls have tightened up in the past few days. Some national polls even have Obama ahead again. So the bleeding has stopped, at least. I'd say the shine is already coming off Palin; it's up to the Obama campaign to reclaim the spotlight, knock her down, and get back in a comfortable lead.
It's an attraction beyond reason -- a true celebrity politician.
As far as McCain goes, hit him on the economy and his record. Begala said it best -- attack, attack, attack.
At the end of the day the hope is that enough swing voters can think with their heads and vote their interests.
Part of that is voter contact; part of it the Obama campaign and the 527s taking care of business.
The economy is terrible and we must hold Republicans accountable for their actions.
The economy is terrible and we must hold Republicans accountable for their actions.
The economy is terrible and we must hold Republicans accountable for their actions.
You are falling for the oldest Rove trick in the book. As long as you are talking about Palin, you are not talking about the colossal damage that the Republican Party and Bush have done to this country. That is why Rove chose such a controversial VP. The only way they have any chance of winning is to keep the country talking about her, anything about her, everything about her.
But not a word about economic collapse, including mounting bank failures, highest foreclosure rate since the Great Depression, rapidly rising unemployment, over 9 Trillion dollar national debt mostly held by foreign countries, and a military stretched to the breaking point, 4 million Iraq refugees, a foreign policy that is spending billions that we don't have in a cold war like game of chicken with Russia, etc, etc. etc.
I must question your motives in sending out this diary that does Roves' work for him, and serves to weaken Obama's chances of winning.
Wake up. If you continue talking about Palin, Rove wins.
Make yourself useful, as I know you can, by talking about the destruction the Republican Party has done and is doing to our country, and please, please tell Obama to do the same.
Today, Obama said, "I don't care what they say about me." What a wimp thing to say when you are battling the dirtiest campaigner we have ever seen in our lifetime, Karl Rove.
Here is what Obama should be saying: McCain is a weakling. He is a political weakling, afraid of his own convictions. We have seen him time and again since he started running for president give up his position to whoever yelled the loudest. He caved to Bush on the tax cuts for the wealthy. He caved to the extremists on immigration reform. He caved to the extremists and kneeled down for Falwell. And he caved to Bush on torture.
McCain has no backbone when it comes to standing his political ground. The straight talk express goes straight in one direction until John McCain gets scared, and then it backs up and goes in the opposite direction. It's too bad that a man of such strength in the Vietnam War is such a weakling when it comes to politics.
McCain can't take the heat for his own convictions. It's a real shame to watch him cower in the face of political pressure.
McCain and his campaign will say and do anything to get elected. They lie, they mislead, they take things out of context. They play games, they avoid the issues. They distort and smear and wave their hands all about -- because they know what you say is true. They are the standard bearers of a criminal enterprise (in terms of the elites running the party) that has wreaked great ruin on our republic in so many ways.
Palin is the loudest manifestation of the fact that they will say and do anything to hold on to power to try and continue these destructive policies. Hit her, and hit her hard, with the facts and the absolute audacity of her lies in the face of the knowable (and known!) truth. And then pivot hard to McCain's complicity in aiding and abetting these crimes and policies.
The lies, and Palin, are the symptom that must be addressed with the disease. Merge them. Rove can be beat at his own game.
[But I agree 100% with your anger and outrage.]
At a rally in Nashua, NH...
Biden: "Hillary a Better Pick Than Me""Make no mistake about this," Biden responded. "Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let's get that straight. She's a truly close personal friend, she is qualified to be president of the United States of America, she's easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America, and quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. But she's first rate, I mean that sincerely, she's first rate, so let's get that straight."
Interpretation: Biden is entertaining the notion of dropping out to allow Hillary to take the VP slot for the sake of the party, (good or bad public reaction?) OR its just a plain and stupid comment from the VP candidate which the GOP responded..."Barack Obama's most important decision of this election, and Biden -- the candidate he selects -- suggests, himself, that he wasn't the right man for the job, and that Hillary Clinton would have been a better choice."
What do you think?
Nothing controversial .... just a comment HYPED at Drudge.
Regarding PALIN .... yes she needs to be called out for what she is - a small town politician, with virtually no foreign policy experience, selected to appeal to the Republican base (Christofacist).
The narrative that has changed is that it's not just about CHANGE .... it's about REFORM. McCain the Maverick is peddling reform ... PALIN is supposedly Miss Reformer .... though regarding pork barrels she's more like Miss Piggy.
There are threads out there which need to be brought together and focused. McCain is not a reformer, look at the lobbyist he's surrounded himself with. PALIN's greatest measurable political accomplishment has been on the receiving end of lobbyist pork. Yes she truly is the lipstick on a PIG.
That's a double edged sword that's faced by the first woman anything. The kind of voters who will choose Palin because she's female are still stuck in the old can-she-or-can't-she mode of thinking. When they realize she can't, and she won't, and she's lying, the backlash will be very strong. They will love her or hate her, nothing in between. They will not give her credit for being a complex individual with strengths and weaknesses, as they would a man.
We need to make sure that voters reach that tipping point before November 4th, not after.
Watching the well-made-up, well-dressed countryclub ladies and sorority "girls" prancing around waving huge cardboard lipstick cutouts, and proclaiming they were lipstick women in favor of Palin while their men were licking their lips with other thoughts in mind made me wonder if someone should not warn these women: better not let your guy get to close to Gov. Palin, girls--- watch out! So far as I am concerned, her sex appeal escapes me. Although I can usually see the sexual power in another woman, regardless of age, I simply don't get it with her, and I cannot help but wonder how much of the sexiness is based on being told by the redneck media that she is, indeed, one hot babe, and how much of it is honest male reaction. Anyone here care to say?
It's almost as if the GOP is pimping for Palin.(Too bad we couldn't put that remark on a protest sign).
No one mentioned it here because we didn't want to run the risk that RK would lose its "PG" rating. :)
But, now that you've mentioned it, we can all admit that it's true. There's no doubt that Sarah is being used in an effort to make the Republican Party a party of "big tents." I don't think it will work too well in a party well known for attracting men afflicted with SPS (small __ syndrome).