tagged w/ Gidget the Gunslinger
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Sarah Palin's debate performance should signal the beginning of the end of her fad. But for the moment it is worth looking at the meaning of her nomination, without the protective varnish of what conservatives usually dismiss as political correctness.
Why should we pretend not to notice when Gov. Palin's ideas make no sense? Having said last week that "it doesn't matter" whether human activity is the cause of climate change, she said in debate that she "doesn't want to argue" about the causes. It doesn't occur to her that we have to know the causes in order to address the problem. (She was very fortunate that moderator Gwen Ifill didn't ask her whether she truly believes that human beings and dinosaurs inhabited this planet simultaneously only 6,000 years ago.)
Why should we ignore her inability to string together a series of coherent thoughts? As a foe of Wall Street greed and a late convert to the gospel of government regulation, along with John McCain, Palin promised to clean up and reform business. But when her programmed talking points about "getting government out of the way" and protecting "freedom" conflicted with that promise, she didn't notice.
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Why should we give her a pass on the most important issues of the day? Supposedly sharing the fears and concerns of the average families who face the burdens of mortgages, healthcare and economic insecurity, Palin simply refused to discuss changes in bankruptcy law and proved that she didn't know the provisions of McCain's healthcare plan.
All the glaring defects so blatantly on display in her debate with Joe Biden -- and that make her candidacy so darkly comical -- would be the same if she were a hockey dad instead of a "hockey mom." In fact, the cynical attempt to foist Palin on the nation as a symbol of feminist progress is an insult to all women regardless of their political orientation.
There was a time when conservatives lamented the dumbing down of American culture. Preservation of basic standards in schools and workplaces compelled them -- or so they said -- to resist affirmative action for women and minorities. Qualifications mattered; merit mattered; and demagogic appeals for leveling were to be left to the Democrats.
Not anymore.
Actually, the Palin phenomenon is the culmination of a trend that can be traced back to Dan Quayle, the undistinguished Indiana senator whose elevation onto the Republican ticket in 1988 had nothing to do with intellect or experience and everything to do with the youthful appeal of a handsome blond frat boy. (That was how Republican strategists thought they would attract female voters back then, which must be why they believe Palin represents progress.) Quayle too was unable to articulate, let alone defend, the policy positions for which he was supposed to be campaigning. He too had to undergo the surgical stuffing of stock phrases into his head as a minimal substitute for knowledge and thought. And in the same sad way, he too benefited from the drastically reduced expectations applied to anyone whose inadequacy is so obvious.
Quayle deserved more pity than scorn, however, because he seemed to know that he was fighting far above his weight class. Palin evokes no such sympathy, with her jut-jawed, moose-gutting confidence in her own overrated "common sense" and her bullying insistence that only "elitists" would question her expertise.
As Biden showed quite convincingly when he spoke about his modest background and his continuing connection with Main Street, perceptive, intelligent discourse is in no way identical with elitism. Palin's phony populism is as insulting to working- and middle-class Americans as it is to American women. Why are basic diction and intellectual coherence presumed to be out of reach for "real people"? Sarah Palin's debate performance should signal the beginning of the end of her... more
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It was creepy to watch Sarah Palin ignore Gwen Ifill's questions and repeat the same scripted answers over and over, as if she were oblivious to her physical surroundings. Even creepier was the fact that so many Republicans interviewed afterward seemed to do the same thing, each robotically repeating the same stock phrases. It was like that scene in Children of the Damned where their eyes start glowing and they all speak in unison.
Instead of "straight talk" we got "straight talking points," from Pat Buchanan on down. Here are some of the buzzwords that spinmeisters in Greater Roveland apparently distributed to any Republican likely to wander within 500 feet of a microphone:
* She was "terrific."
* Joe Biden is "slick."
* She's "younger" and "attractive" and "that represents change."
* Biden and Obama are "looking back" by discussing the last 8 years, and John McCain's role in them. We want to "look forward." (That one's classic Rovian Bushspeak, as is McCain's "let's not place blame" routine.) It was creepy to watch Sarah Palin ignore Gwen Ifill's questions and repeat the... more
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BuddyP
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3 years ago
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Now that Sarah Palin has given a series of disasterous interviews, both conservative and liberal columnists have started weighing in on how bad they feel for her. But Palin is a powerful woman with executive experience, and she should have known exactly what she was getting into. Now that Sarah Palin has given a series of disasterous interviews, both conservative... more
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Palin reads from her notes in the debate. word for word in most instances. None of her answers were her own and all planed and thought out. Many viewers did not see this because there was not a split screen. Many did see her glance down when she responded.Palin reads from her notes in the debate. word for word in most instances. None of her... more
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Well you aren't invited to the wedding anyways so....She smiles when she lies.
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Slight nuance in the use of the word between us and our US cousins by the look of things.
dSlight nuance in the use of the word between us and our US cousins by the look of... more
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Sarah Palin attacked Obama's patriotism today over his association with former Weatherman Bill Ayers -- a move that makes it perfectly legitimate to raise questions about the Palins' associations with a group founded by an Alaska secessionist who once professed his "hatred for the American government" and cursed our "damn flag."
In Colorado today, Palin seized on the big front-page New York Times story about Ayers and Obama, which concludes that the two men "do not appear to have been close," to launch her most vicious attack yet on the Illinois Senator -- a harbinger of what's to come.
"This is not a man who sees America as you and I do -- as the greatest force for good in the world," Palin said. "This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country."
If Palin is going to say this, it is now perfectly legitimate to point out that she repeatedly courted a secessionist group founded by someone who openly professed hatred of the American government, cursed our flag, and wanted to secede from the Union. Sarah's husband, Todd Palin, was a member of this group, which continues to venerate that founder to this day, for years.Sarah Palin attacked Obama's patriotism today over his association with former... more
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BuddyP
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3 years ago
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Sen. Joe Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have taken the stage for the first and only scheduled vice presidential debate of the election season.
Sen. Joe Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have taken the stage for the first and only... more
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TaniaK
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3 years ago
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Friday October 3, 2008 10:03 EDT
How Sarah Palin blew it
Joe Biden and Sarah Palin were talking to two different Americas Thursday night. Actually, that's unfair to Joe Biden; he was trying to talk to everyone. I can say for certain, though, that Sarah Palin was talking to -- and winking at -- her own private Idaho, and for long stretches of the debate, it was an unnerving experience.
We could be in for a few days of pro-Palin commentary, since her subjects and verbs corresponded. For at least the first hour, she held her own; she was funny sometimes, occasionally charming. Still, the Obama-Biden ticket will survive it. Biden was stronger on every single substantive point, and that's the impression that will last.
But the pit bull in lipstick was back. After her disarming "Hey, can I call you Joe?" Palin was vicious, with a winning smile. After a passionate Biden plea to "walk with me in my neighborhood," in Delaware and Scranton, where "the middle class has gotten the short end," she ridiculed him: "Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again! Pointing backwards again!"
There were two key moments for me when Sarah Palin blew it badly. One was substantive, one was symbolic. The substantive was her bizarre statement about being happy that Dick Cheney had expanded the powers of the vice-presidency, and wanting to expand the powers more. I think that's what she said, it was one of many moments I didn't entirely understand her point, but I got her overall meaning. Biden came back with a decisive: "Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president in American history," and he defended the existing limits on vice-presidential power. Point: Biden. Big time.
The symbolic moment Palin flubbed was subjective, of course. But I instant-messaged a friend that she lost the debate when Biden choked up over losing his wife and child in a car accident in which his sons were critically injured -- and she went straight back into "John McCain is a maverick." I truly expected her to express human sympathy with Biden, and her failure to do so showed me something deeply wrong with her. But maybe that's just me.
She made other mistakes that others have already caught: She called the top commander in Afghanistan "General McClellan"; his name is David McKiernan. She said the troop levels in Iraq are down to pre-surge levels; they're not. She simply didn't answer a lot of the questions. Moderator Gwen Ifill tried to pull her back, but Palin is stubborn; she had her talking points, and she stuck to them.
I thought Biden and Palin tied for the first third of the debate, that Palin actually won the second third on moxie and charisma, not policy (Biden looked visibly angry at a few points, and that's never good), but Biden cleaned her clock in the last third. He quoted his dad telling him, "Champ, when you get knocked down, get up!" -- and he listened to his father. Biden got up, and he won the debate.
We'll see how it plays out in the days to comFriday October 3, 2008 10:03 EDT
How Sarah Palin blew it
Joe Biden and Sarah Palin... more
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Sarah Palin is coming to the Los Angeles area today and we need your help. We'll have a giant, electronic billboard outside of Palin's rally where we'll be displaying questions for the McCain-Palin campaign from Californians across the state.
To submit a question for our electronic billboard, text the keyword ASK then the question to the number 69866
For example, send to 69866: ASK You said you'd run a respectful campaign on the issues, what happened?
Keep your questions under 160 characters including spaces and remember to keep them family friendly since we're showing them in public.
They have live streaming video of the billboard..hope my question goes up!
What would you want to ask Sarah Palin??Sarah Palin is coming to the Los Angeles area today and we need your help. We'll... more
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lulu81
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3 years ago
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Palin says, "whatever Todd and I can do in realizing what their challenges in that state are, as we can relate to them and connect with them ..."
Golly gee wilakers, it is she who's dumping McCain, gosh darn ! Palin says, "whatever Todd and I can do in realizing what their challenges in... more
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Raven6
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Foreign policy expert Phyllis Bennis analyzes the importance of the language used by the VP hopefuls.
Phyllis Bennis is a Senior Analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. She is the author of Before and After: US Foreign Policy and the September 11 Crisis and Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power.
Her newest book Understanding the US-Iran Crisis: A Primer will be available in September 2008.
Foreign policy expert Phyllis Bennis analyzes the importance of the language used by... more
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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied to the country's brutal regime from the state's multi-billion-dollar investment fund, she claimed during Thursday's vice presidential debate.
Not quite, according to a review of the public record – and according to the recollections of a legislator and others who pushed a measure to divest Alaskan holdings in Sudan-linked investments.
"The [Palin] administration killed our bill," said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage. Gara and state Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, co-sponsored a resolution early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund – a $40 billion investment fund, a portion of whose dividends are distributed annually to state residents – to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government.
The Alaska Permanent Fund currently holds $22 million in Sudan-linked investments, according to the non-profit Sudan Divestment Task Force. Divestment advocates say the fund does not need an act of the state legislature to divest itself of those holdings.
The McCain-Palin campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied... more
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According to the nonpartisan researchers at Factcheck.org (a NEWSWEEK partner), Biden and Palin "were not 100 percent accurate [in St. Louis last night] - to say the least." Here's how the cookie crumbled:
* Palin mistakenly claimed that troop levels in Iraq had returned to "pre-surge" levels. Levels are gradually coming down but current plans would have levels higher than pre-surge numbers through early next year, at least.
* Biden incorrectly said "John McCain voted the exact same way" as Obama on a controversial troop funding bill. The two were actually on opposite sides.
* Palin repeated a false claim that Obama once voted in favor of higher taxes on "families" making as little as $42,000 a year. He did not. The budget bill in question called for an increase only on singles making that amount, but a family of four would not have been affected unless they made at least $90,000 a year.
* Biden wrongly claimed that McCain "voted the exact same way" as Obama on the budget bill that contained an increase on singles making as little as $42,000 a year. McCain voted against it. Biden was referring to an amendment that didn't address taxes at that income level.
* Palin claimed McCain's health care plan would be "budget neutral," costing the government nothing. Independent budget experts estimate McCain's plan would cost tens of billions each year, though details are too fuzzy to allow for exact estimates.
* Biden wrongly claimed that McCain had said "he wouldn't even sit down" with the government of Spain. Actually, McCain didn't reject a meeting, but simply refused to commit himself one way or the other during an interview.
* Palin wrongly claimed that "millions of small businesses" would see tax increases under Obama's tax proposals. At most, several hundred thousand business owners would see increases.According to the nonpartisan researchers at Factcheck.org (a NEWSWEEK partner), Biden... more
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BuddyP
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3 years ago
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At least three times last night, Sarah Palin, the adorable, preposterous vice-presidential candidate, winked at the audience. Had a male candidate with a similar reputation for attractive vapidity made such a brazen attempt to flirt his way into the good graces of the voting public, it would have universally noted, discussed and mocked. Palin, however, has single-handedly so lowered the standards both for female candidates and American political discourse that, with her newfound ability to speak in more-or-less full sentences, she is now deemed to have performed acceptably last night.
By any normal standard, including the ones applied to male presidential candidates of either party, she did not. Early on, she made the astonishing announcement that she had no intentions of actually answering the queries put to her. "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also," she said.
And so she preceded, with an almost surreal disregard for the subjects she was supposed to be discussing, to unleash fusillades of scripted attack lines, platitudes, lies, gibberish and grating references to her own pseudo-folksy authenticity.
It was an appalling display. The only reason it was not widely described as such is that too many American pundits don't even try to judge the truth, wisdom or reasonableness of the political rhetoric they are paid to pronounce upon. Instead, they imagine themselves as interpreters of a mythical mass of "average Americans" who they both venerate and despise.At least three times last night, Sarah Palin, the adorable, preposterous... more
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BuddyP
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Sarah Palin has been forced to apologise to the British Embassy in Washington after claiming she had held talks with the ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald.
In an answer to questions about her foreign policy experience ahead of tonight's make-or-break vice presidential TV debate, her aides listed numerous contacts with foreign officials - including Sir Nigel.
However the meeting never occurred. Officials at the embassy swiftly contacted the McCain-Palin campaign to inform them of the discrepancy.
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More at link.
LOL!Sarah Palin has been forced to apologise to the British Embassy in Washington after... more
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There may be no better word to describe John McCain's vice presidential pick than "ridiculous."
After months of criticizing Sen. Obama for his inexperience with foreign policy, McCain has chosen quite possibly the least experienced woman in politics to serve as his second-in-command. How little experience does Palin have, you ask? She was a part-time mayor of a tiny Alaska town and then governor of one of the least populous states in the union for less than two years. Palin has never met with any foreign leaders of any kind—in fact, she only applied for a U.S. passport last year!
In this time of international turmoil, how could McCain, a man who would become the oldest candidate ever elected, select a novice like Palin knowing she would be one heartbeat away from having to step into the presidency and protect our nation? The mere notion that Palin is even remotely equipped to manage the ongoing war on terror is an out-and-out fantasy dreamt up by the Republican party to disguise why they really selected her: to attract female and evangelical voters in a desperate attempt to win the election at any cost—even if it means sacrificing our nation's security.
McCain has chosen for his running mate a woman who is so set in the past that she supports abstinence-only education despite its failure among her own children; a woman who claims she is not convinced that global warming is a serious issue. Palin has time and again supported needless and ecologically destructive drilling in Alaska's wildlife reserves—drilling that McCain himself is ardently opposed to—yet offers no plan for the very real and proven threat of climate change, despite the danger it poses to her home state.
Perhaps the most frightening prospect of putting Palin in the White House is her continued support of the failing war in Iraq—a war she called "a task that is from God." Electing Sarah Palin and John McCain in November will no doubt prolong this costly and unwinnable conflict, which every day claims the lives of more American troops and sinks our country further into debt.
Palin is not a bold new choice for America. I have no doubt she will provide the same type of irresponsible and flat-out dangerous leadership we've seen from President Bush for the past eight years. That is, if she provides any leadership at all.
Counter point by Sarah Palin:
Shhhh!
Could you please stop tearing apart my record so loudly? I just put my special needs child down for a nap. You remember my poor, Down syndrome baby, don't you? The developmentally disabled child I carried to term despite knowing that he had special needs? The child who would be helpless without my constant care and attention? Well, he's just nodded off, and if you continue to provide such damning evidence of my inexperience in both foreign and domestic policy, you'll wake him.
You wouldn't want him to start crying, would you?
It's very rude of you to keep pointing out the myriad reasons I am unfit to be the governor of Alaska, much less vice president of the United States of America, when you know my Down syndrome–afflicted son is trying to get some much-needed rest. If you wanted to question my qualifications as a leader, you should have thought of that sooner, like, say, before I gave birth to a retarded child who would probably starve to death if I weren't so selflessly and courageously dedicated to him.
Actually, he'll probably be sleeping for a while, so maybe it would be best if you came back later. Perhaps this afternoon, or in a couple of months. It's just that he gets so tired having to struggle with even the simplest tasks that you and I take for granted. Because my special needs son has Down syndrome, you see. My child has Down syndrome. And, as the mother of a baby with Down syndrome, I would appreciate it if you stopped bringing up my nonexistent energy plan while he sleeps there, like an angel.
My beautiful, special needs angel.
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Click the link for more.There may be no better word to describe John McCain's vice presidential pick than... more
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Sarah Palin and Joe Biden face off in the "Don't Mess Up" Bowl, the bailout bill passes, and John McCain's looking to thread the electoral needle.
CAMPAIGN UPDATE knows that election news and weird jokes go together like a popped-collar meathead and a vacant-eyed blonde. Created by Mark Ganek and Brett Erlich, Campaign Update strives to be the dumbest smart show on television.
Bookmark us and check us out every weekday at current.com/campaignupdate.Sarah Palin and Joe Biden face off in the "Don't Mess Up" Bowl, the... more
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Football, Bailouts, Radiohead, Homer Simpson and of course Sarah Palin. What do they all have in common? All five hold a place in today's Current Virals. Enjoy.
To watch the full versions of all five videos just click on the links in the comments section below.Football, Bailouts, Radiohead, Homer Simpson and of course Sarah Palin. What do they... more
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Get ready for the Last Days and the Rapture. Where's Kirk Cameron? Is this a lame attempt to boost his DVD sales of Apocalypse films?
Apparently people are going to flock to Alaska because it's one of God's "chosen states. . ." and what, or, rather where exactly is the fine line between personal religion and public political office? Are we willing to find out?
Come on Palin, tell us about "God's plan." We're watering at the mouth to hear it from nearly elected "maverick" who also happens to be "tolerant" . . .
Get ready for the Last Days and the Rapture. Where's Kirk Cameron? Is this a... more
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