Friday, September 05, 2008

Mistake, Luck, Or Strategy?


I stay away from politics on this site because honestly I love all of you and I think every politician is full of crap anyway. The only politicians that generally matter in our day to day lives are the local politicians. They are the ones who are responsible for sales tax, state income tax, water rates, electric rates, phone rates, roads, garbage, schools, property taxes, parking rates, cable, and yet they are the ones we are completely apathetic towards when it comes to voting instead of just our normal partially apathetic selves in national elections.

So, with that being said I just wanted to talk for a second about Sarah Palin. I have no opinion on her at all. This is simply about the media being manipulated and looking stupid.

Lets go back a week. Barack Obama had just given a speech in a football stadium that was packed and rumor had it that McCain was going to trot out some random white guy no one had ever heard of to be his running mate. So, then you would have had Obama/Boring White Guy on one ticket and Boring White Guy/Boring White Guy on the other ticket.

Now, lets go back to when Sarah Palin was announced. Notice she was announced with about 24 hours before weekly magazine deadlines. Then notice how all these stories about her came out so fast and furiously. Everyone was saying McCain and his people were idiots for not checking this stuff out and it was a horrible mistake on their part.

Does anyone honestly believe that? Does anyone believe in this time of background checks and such that none of this was noticed and that he just drew a name out of a hat? Please.

The negative press was so bad on her for the first 24 hours that people thought she would pull out. In those 24 hours all the tabloids went to press and all plastered her all over the covers of almost every magazine. Do you think boring white guy as a VP candidate gets that? Umm, no.

So, in about 48 hours you went from Obama this and Obama that to every single person in the entire world talking about Sarah Palin. She is on covers of tabloids, people talk about her constantly, and the whole world tunes in to watch her speech. Think they would have turned on boring white guy? Nope.

Think about all those comments that were made about the mistake made by McCain last week. Maybe it was a mistake and they got lucky, or maybe it was a strategy. I do know that to me it seems though as if the media got played. They were all jumping all over stories that said how investigations were done wrong and that no one knew any of this stuff. Please. The stories about the pregnancy, the DWI, and everything else came out in 5 minutes. It just had never been done before. Pick someone who has so much baggage and controversy that it just dominates the airwaves every second of everyday, while the nominee from the other party who should be basking in a post convention glow can't even get a mention anywhere in the news.

Anyway, just something that has been on my mind, and would love to know what you think. Maybe I am just reading it all wrong.

104 comments:

Uber*nought said...

You're right of course, it's all a huge stage-managed pantomime.

Don't forget these are the same magazines that think nothing of bearding up Tom/Katie, Jake/Reese, Clooney/any passing random female. It's mega bucks so I'd assume it would be mega bucks with Sarah Palin too. The backhanders will keep the mag publishers in cocaine for a few months at least. ;)

Kristen S. said...

"The only politicians that generally matter in our day to day lives are the local politicians. They are the ones who are responsible for sales tax, state income tax, water rates, electric rates, phone rates, roads, garbage, schools, property taxes, parking rates, cable, and yet they are the ones we are completely apathetic towards when it comes to voting instead of just our normal partially apathetic selves in national elections."

By god, I can put up with all the browser freeze in the world because you just said what I've been telling everyone within earshot since I was 18! Huzzah to Enty!

lutefisk said...

Did anyone even know she existed before this? I know I never heard of her.

Cheryl said...

I think the media got played because Sarah Palin was on nobody's radar.

mooshki said...

If it was all strategy, it had to be Rove's idea. He's the only one who is quite that brilliantly devious and amoral.

r said...

full article: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/JI03Aa02.html

excerpt:
McCain doesn't have a tenth of Obama's synaptic fire-power, but he is a nasty old sailor who knows when to come about for a broadside. Given Obama's defensive, even wimpy selection of a running-mate, McCain's choice was obvious. He picked the available candidate most like himself: a maverick with impeccable reform credentials, a risk-seeking commercial fisherwoman and huntress married to a marathon snowmobile racer who carries a steelworkers union card. The Democratic order of battle was to tie McCain to the Bush administration and attack McCain by attacking Bush. With Palin on the ticket, McCain has re-emerged as the maverick he really is.

The young Alaskan governor, to be sure, hasn't any business running for vice president of the United States with her thin resume. McCain and his people know this perfectly well, and that is precisely why they put her on the ticket. If Palin is unqualified to be vice president, all the less so is Obama qualified to be president.

McCain has certified his authenticity for the voters. He's now the outsider, the reformer, the maverick, the war hero running next to the Alaskan amazon with a union steelworker spouse. Obama, who styled himself an agent of change, took his image for granted, and attempted to ensure himself victory by doing the cautious thing. He is trapped in a losing position, and there is nothing he can do to get out of it.

jax said...

please she was only picked becasue she was a womne to try and garner votes from Hillary's leftovers that are jumping ship.

i do have to say i find her facinating. not enough to be VP but she needs a fucking talk show.

personally if your own daughted cant follow the abstinence you preach then what makes you think any teens in America in 2008 will?
and sometimes abortion is ok and that is ALL im saying there.

r said...

I don't think Rove had anything to do with it. McCain is entirely capable of coming up with this stroke of genius himself.

r said...

She was picked not to appeal to Hillary voters, but to re-energize the Evangelicals, who promptly donated 7 million dollars in 2 days. To appeal to the Rust belt, who were looking like a sure thing for the Democrats. Hillary had nothing to do with the Palin pick. He may pick up a Hillary voter heree and there, but I seriously doubt it was them he wanted. It was the Rebulican base, who hated him, and have subsequently gotten on board.

Lisa (not original) said...

Personally, it makes me wonder what's wrong with Kay Bailey Hutchinson and the other GOP women if this is the best they have to offer. Of course, it's a ploy. Hopefully it ends up biting them in the ass. Scandal may sell magazines, but it generally doesn't win elections.

PotPourri said...

I agree. The republicans hardly ever make a mis-step.

kimi said...

What I wonder is how many great canidates are looked over or don't run because of skeletons in their closet? You have to practically be a choir boy to run for office now.

Anonymous said...

I love Palin, and it's not because I"m a woman or religious (ffft, I'm a heathen). She's a fiscal conservative who actually did what she was elected to do - she cut taxes, she threw out the corrupt old bums, even the ones in her own party, and she straighten that state out. She's also deft on energy issues, which is huge right now.

She's a pistol - I cannot believe she managed to come out poised, funny, warm and intelligent and confident in the light of an onslaught of smear campaigns. For someone who is not a veteran of national politics and mudslinging, she just had a trial by fire and she rocked it.

I'm excited to see what Sarah Palin can do. McCain didn't enthuse me, and Obama strikes me as a lot of talk about ideas, but no real history of actually doing anything - he's a polished politician, he's likeable, but he's not really showing me he did anything that merits being President of the US.

Interesting thought: If McCain/Palin win, 2012 could see a Hillary v Sarah race. That would be quite a thing.

Ice Angel said...

I think Chris Matthews stated it perfectly when he said after her speech:

"I thought Sarah Palin was going to be an answer for the Hilary Clinton supporters, but after hearing her speak I realize that this woman is nothing like Hilary Clinton....Rather she is a torpedo aimed directly at Barrack Obama!"

Brilliant move by the GOP! While a conservative, I have been very "eh" about politics of late. I think Obama is scary to even consider for President, but my excitement about this election was renewed when I heard her magnificent speech the other night.

I have a new girl crush and her name is Sarah Palin!

PotPourri said...

Hutchison and McCain can't stand each other. BTW, Hutchison is McCain in a dress. Sarah Palin is not Hutchison, nor McCain. She's like the Margaret Thatcher of the US.

Julie said...

in the passed few weeks, i've learned more about McCain and Palin then I really care to know.
I was on the McCain ship 8 years ago, and then he turned into a yes man. No amount of political spin will change that.

no evangelical was going to vote Obama anyway.
Is she supposed to be the hometown buddy that Joe Biden is? She can talk, and shes got snark, but seriously, can she cut it is still the question.

Watching Cindy McCain speak last night made me nauseous. She seems more like a 1st grade teacher addressing her students than a first lady.

I feel no guilt in liking Barack Obama.

Julie said...

btw, JFK and LBJ didn't like each other at all.

but yeah, i understand why he chose Palin. I just don't agree with it. I'd have been much happier if hed have chosen Lieberman lol

MISCH said...

OBAMA MADE A BIG MISTAKE......IT'S NOT A SURE THING.....A BIG EGO GOT IN THE WAY....IT'S GOING TO BE INTERESTING...

brendalove@gmail.com said...

Its time to start up that Politician's Academy. A place where people can be born and raised, supervised at all times, and dedicated totally to learning politics. This way we can finally get those perfectly groomed politicians that have never, ever done anything wrong, nor have ever had anything even approaching a life. Our public demands it!

mooshki said...

"He picked the available candidate most like himself: a maverick with impeccable reform credentials..."

Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

Joanna said...

No, you're absolutely right, Ent. There's literally nothing else that makes me understand why he picked her. After months of blah blah blahing about experience and etc. etc. they picked the most inexperienced controversial candidate possible. It's a complete stunt to shut Obama out of the media. Makes me feel sick and insulted.

Oh, and julie, I feel the same way. I used to love McCain because he was so outspoken and refreshingly stuck to his beliefs, but then he did this whole heel turn and became a yes man - all to save his career in my opinion. Now I can't him at all. It's Obama for me.

(Although it really is true that it's the local elections that have more importance, lol. Still, I'd rather not have another Right winger picking the next supreme court justice, thankyouverymuch)

alan said...

the enquirer says she had an affair were her husband's former biz partner. said biz partner got divorced and today tried to get the alaska court to seal the record . . . another john edwards?

Rhianna said...

I find it beyond disgusting that they're using a mentally handicapped child - under a year old, to attack her. That baby, even when grown, will only ever know that's his mom. Not that she was a major, governor, or possible VP. Just Mom. WTF kind of scum makes fun of a woman having a child late in life who has a birth defect? I could have sworn Eugenics was not practiced in the US and that everyone was for "women's rights'" but when it involves a woman choosing not to abort a child then it's a smear tactic. I guess it only applies to shrived up old hags with crappy English accents that buy kids from Africa. Shitty human beings deserve shitty things to happen to them, and a Down Syndrome baby is an innocent soul.

I find politicians family to be off limits. I'm against dragging that kid of Edwards' into the arena - smear his cheating, skank ass and his ho-bag all you want but the kid is innocent. I do not need to know her name, see her photo, etc. She's done nothing wrong - lay the blame on two cheating shitheads. Drag his politically expedient wife through the mud along with him but kids are off limits.

I don't care if her daughter is pregnant. Unless we're bringing back Scarlet A's and making all teens who have sex wear them, lay the fuck off! Same goes for a 22 year-old DUI from a guy she wasn't even married to at the time.

If this shit can fly then I want to see some REAL articles on saint Obama's admitted drug usage, his wife being ashamed of being American and trash his kids. All or nothing.


Does that mean McCain didn't plan it this way? Don't know. It'd prove to be really cunning for a man millions are calling "another Bush". That would be amusing in itself.

Anonymous said...

Oh God, now this site is going to have politic wars, too. I'm fed up with E for that reason. Look, we all feel one way or another. No two people feel exactly the same way. Whether you like Sarah Palin or don't like her is irrelevant to me while I'm on CDAN, 'cuz when I'm here I want to talk GOSSIP! I definitely have my opinions about Sarah Palin, but I'm biting my tongue (so hard it's almost bleeding) b/c I need a break from all of this. I know how I'm voting in November, and that's all I need to know.

mooshki said...

ea73, I hear ya, but I'm afraid the line between politics & celebrity gossip is gone for good.

oldhippieinsideasoccermom said...

I agree that McCain lost his "maverick" mantle - just look at his voting record. I think he's a much more attractive a candidate than Romney or Guiliani would have been, but it was nothing but hilarious to hear those guys talking about East Coast Elitists - How much more elitist can you get than a multi-millionaire from MA or NY?

It's all a chess game to guys like Rove and he other career politicians - only we are the pieces...

Local politics matter most, although I think that the global economy and our inter-dependence with the world is changing that. As China and India become super-powers in their own right, we need some credibility in the world, and that's why it DID matter that 200,000 people showed up to see Obama in Germany, and that electing McCain would say to the world that we want 8 more years of Bush, who is reviled around the world. (Justifiably, to me.)

For our daily lives, and the protection of our rights, the Supreme Court is one more reason to take this election really seriously.

Enty, you are entirely right about the orchestration of the Sarah Palin story.... they've framed it beautifully - you can't question her - it would be sexist! This from the GOP, who have such a wonderful history of respecting women- and their rights to equal pay for equal work, for example!

Watch last night's Daily Show - Vet this!

Anonymous said...

I know, Mooshki. It just makes me sad to see lines drawn here, too.

CarolMR said...

I've been hoping for months that McCain would choose Palin and I'm so glad he did.

I'm also glad that apparently so many US Weeklyl readers have cancelled their subscriptions to the mag because of the slanted, incomplete, and distorted cover story on Sarah Palin. Good - sock it to Jann Wenner.

yellow said...

Totally right, Ent, it was orchestrated to keep the campaign away from the issues that are damning for the GOP (war, economy, oil prices, and energy, global warming, health care, education, I could go on forever with the things neglected during the Bush misadministration ).

What is scary is that the GOP picked to put one heart beat away from managing an ailing economy someone that is, at least, uneducated as Bush or McCain
- took 6 years and five colleges to get a 2 year journalism degree, making her dumber than Bush or McCain (graduated 5th from the last in is class).
- only evident skill is that she can read a teleprompter, but still needs needs words spelled phonetically to get it right, like nuclear spelled new-clear

Is an hypocrite
- defends abstinence as the only choice, but refuses to explain how it worked for her daughter, or with herself. Palin eloped to get married, and her son was born 8 months later.I believe that if you can't make it work at home, you can't push your views on the kids of other's, putting their health at risk in the processes.
- is governor of a state that is a pork champion, and defended the bridge to nowhere until it was not exactly has "big" has she wanted.
- only told her kids, one of which pregnant teen, she was becoming VP the day it was announced, without preparation for National media scrutiny, that can be very traumatic. What a great mom.
- knowing she was 8th month pregnant with a child with Down syndrome, went to give a speech in Texas. Before the speech, her waters broke, instead of getting to an hospital, gave the speech, hoped in a plane back to Alaska, and went to an Hospital 45 minutes away when there where 2 closer. Note, children with Down syndrome can be born with a congenital hearth defect that might require immediate surgical intervention. Also, pregnant women that already have given birth, in average, take 4 hours to deliver, and the flight back to Alaska took at least 7 hours. Makes us wonder if the pro-lifer wasn't trying to give god hand, and hopping the new born didn't survive. Not that it matters, she isn't taking care of him. Went back to work 3 days after giving birth. Have we ever seen her picking him up?

Really doesn't believe in America
- puts the evangelical version of God ahead America,the Constitution, and the people
- was a member of a secessionist party that defended the independence of Alaska

But, what, IMHO, is really is scary is that
- She believes in banning books from libraries, just like the Inquisition, and the Nazi.


The truth is, that in 8 years of Republicans in power the dollar become a weak currency, unsupervised financial speculation brought on the onset of a potential depression, more and more families, that once had a nice life, now struggle to reach the end of the month, and to keep a roof over their heads. They managed to break the world's biggest economy has fast as a dictator in a Central African Republic. Just the fact that the stalwart of democracy still lags behind Cuba when it comes to universal health care should be a source of embarrassment.

Anonymous said...

On the experience issues - it really doesn't matter that McCain made an issue out of Obama's lack of experience (fact) and then picked a young, less experienced running mate (who still has more executive experience than Obama).

McCain has the experience. He didn't have to pick an experienced running mate to compensate for anything.

Obama did - and that is why he picked Biden.

It's weird that democrats are pointing to Palin's thinner resume and questioning her being "a heartbeat away from the Presidency" while they are comfortable putting Obama, who has LESS experience, directly in the presidency.

Anyway . . . I'm a fiscal conservative and probably best described as Libertarian, but I don't really vote a party. From my point of view, government spending has to be cut. I don't want to hear any rainbow promises of new programs that cost a lot of money that are supposed to make the government my new savior.

Get in there, cut the pork, trim the fat and clean that crap up.

After the run of the campaigns up to this point, I feel most confident McCain/Palin will get it done. They both have a record of it. Greenspan's book "the age of turbulence" is packed with references to teams and committees attacking earmarks and wasteful spending (not usually successfully, but the Republican Congress went crazy on spending the surplus).

Nearly all the efforts to reduce spending were headed by or involved McCain. That makes me think he will really go for it.

LIPSTICK FEMINIST said...

Wasn't there ONE black man democrat with experience that could have run?

If a white man ran on Obama's record and experience that would have been run out of Dodge........he was picked because he 'sells well'. PERIOD.

lutefisk said...

Ace-- I was not impressed with either candidate & was waiting to see who each picked for their running mates.
I certainly think Biden is well-qualified for VP, & was a smart choice.
As for Sarah Palin, I know this will piss off a bunch of people, for some reason she offends me. If she can't pass her own values down to her children, what should the citizens of the US think? For her child to get pregnant seems like such a slap in the face to her whole value system--as if she was trying to humiliate her mother.
And yes, we were all 17, but most people were terrified of pregnancy, without having right-wing parents preaching their beliefs to everyone.

Kitty said...

not a famous asked: Did anyone even know she existed before this?

Absolutely. In fact, I'd been hoping McC would pick Sarahcuda. I love her for the same reasons ACE TOMATO stated. But, then, I'm a conservative.

...

lutefisk said...

I honestly never heard of her until last week.

Anonymous said...

n/f/Adrian . . . with Palin's daughter, I think of my own parents and their values, and then all the crazy crap I did in high school and college. It wasn't any reflection or failure of their values - I knew their values, I just made my own crazy choices. There wasn't any way to blame my parents for me getting drunk on Strawberry Hill until I puked pink at a party. Really.

I had premarital sex and my folks are devout Catholics. I did that all my own.

Sarah's daughter got pregnant. It happens. It doesn't mean Sarah's values are counterfeit or she isn't a great parent for not "knowing what was going on under her nose".

Hells bells, Hillary's husband screwed everything he could get right under her nose, that didn't make her marital vows counterfeit or her ability to lead unqualified.

Obama's preacher of 20 years is an inflammatory racist - Obama claims he didn't notice - that has been going on for 20 years under his nose.

Blame people for their own mistakes, not someone else's.

Kitty said...

not a famous, have you ever raised a kid? I've raised two, plus I have 4 grandchildren who range in age from 6 to 17. And I'm here to tell ya that at some point early on all kids get minds of their own. We laid down the law about alcohol and drugs, but that didn't stop our son. He's now the father of 3; the 17-y-o is his, and he now understands what parenting is all about.

It may be a slap in the face for the kid to go against your values, but the point is that the kid has their own values and they're not necessarily those of the parents.

...

lutefisk said...

Ace--I agree with everything you say.
I couldn't even look at Hillary with any type of respect when she was running.
I just find it hard to view Sarah Palin and her values when her own daughter couldn't even abide by them.
Maybe I am being judgemental, but certainly she had access to birth control, & should have taken MULTIPLE precautions to avoid negating everything her family stands for.

lutefisk said...

Kitty-- I have a 15 year old daughter & 12 year old son. We have open communication, & my children respect our family values.
When they disagree, we discuss it. Both my kids have chosen their own friends & social activities which we stand behind 100%. And both on their own decided to continue their religious education without us having to shove it down their throats--their choice. We have let them both try alcohol so there is no mystery, we speak to them about sex. BUT--we are not a family of hypocrates. They both have enough self-esteem & sense to realize 1 stupid move can ruin their lives & ours forever.
Maybe we live in a bubble, but I never complain about my kids choices.
By the way, my daughter reads CDaN, & sometimes posts, but I promised never to reveal or identity. Thank goodness for family trust.

jlb said...

Anyone who choses to put their face in the mainstream media - political or otherwise - has to accept that their past and families are going to be looked over with a fine tooth comb - to think otherwise in this day and age is naive.

Strategy all the way.

SunnyD said...

Adrian, did you ever consider that not every baby born to a teen is as horrible a situation as you think it is? Ever hear that children can be a blessing? "everything her family stands for"? Her family stands for life! Notice how she didn't abort her baby just because he has Down's? His life is worth something and so is Bristol's child's.

Kitty said...

not famous...: What makes you think you and your family are any different than the Palin family?

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lutefisk said...

SunnyD--to each his own. I never said it was horrible--just an embarrassment. But, while Sarah as been working all these years, & it is not a 9-5 job, who has been mothering those kids, especially a special needs baby? I always see him in Bristol's arms.
Surly the baby should be put before anything.

lutefisk said...

Kitty--do you want a list? I don't understand your question--we are extremely different.

lutefisk said...

by the way--we are off to take my kids & their friends to an amusement park now. I know what they are doing & who they are with--
1 of the differences Kitty asked about, so I am out of here now.
You can't get pregnant on a roller coaster, can you?

Ayesha said...

Brilliantly played, Repugs. If I could tweak just a few leeeetle things about McCain and Palin, I'd be voting for them.

But Roe v. Wade is too important to me.

Kitty said...

not famous: My point is, you have no idea how the Palins raise their children. Their daughter getting pregnant is not necessarily any indication, either. I repeat: kids have minds of their own. They may not have wanted this for their daughter, but I've no doubt that they view the baby as a blessing.

Look, you don't want to go there because it makes you look small-minded and judgemental.

...

Kitty said...

ayesha: You do understand, don’t you, that Palin can’t overturn Roe v. Wade? All she can do if she ever becomes President, is appoint strict constructionists to the Supreme Court, and all they can do is return the abortion issue to the states, and all they will do is either maintain the status quo or tighten restrictions on abortion somewhat. This is not 1955 anymore.

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Lana M. said...

not a famous adrian: I was told a LONG time ago, you NEVER question or ridicule someone's parenting until your own kids are past that stage. You said your daughter was 15? ALOT can happen in 2 years, I'd be VERY careful, words have a way of coming back to haunt us.

brendalove@gmail.com said...

Adrian, you and I always see eye-to-eye on most everything, but I gotta agree that you can't judge a parent by a teenager's screw up. If you look it up, next to the definition "screw up" is a picture of a teenager. And we can't watch over them every second, either.

Murphy Brown 2020 said...

What I find truly reprehensible is how the GOP is cawing and hollering about *sexism!* whenever ANYONE dares criticize Palin's credentials (which, as the Governor of Alaska, form a pretty paltry list), whereas Hillary was an open fucking target during the primaries and people just scoffed at any notion of her being the victim of mysogyny. And Jax is right. Picking Palin was simply a condescending ploy to garner female voters, even though informed women are aware that Palin is an alarmingly anti-feminist candidate.

And say whatever the hell you want about Barack Obama and his values, his own credentials, etc, but I think it's highly indicative of his own integrity that he issued a blunt statement saying that he would stay out of the Bristol debacle, and that he urged his followers to do the same. And he has adhered to that. I'm entirely positive that the Republican party wouldn't take the same advice. If Obama's sister's best friend's dentist's cousin were seventeen and knocked up, you KNOW some strategist would try to spin that as some sort of attack on Obama and his morality.

"I just find it hard to view Sarah Palin and her values when her own daughter couldn't even abide by them."

EXACTLY. I think it's tragic that a child is being used as a political pawn to gather up more psycho anti-choice evangelical assholes. Because McCain knew what he was doing when he picked Palin, and I'm sure the knocked-up teenager who lacks any sort of reproductive choices whatsoever was only a bonus point to slap on his campaign.

And on an entirely different note, what kind of person chooses the names BRISTOL, TRACK, TRIG, WILLOW and freaking PIPER for her children?!

I'm honestly not worried, though. This ticket is laughable. And I'll be chuckling in November when these assholes lose and we finally have an administration that isn't comprised of diabolical freakshows. I caught Rudy Giuliani's speech the other night and it was so audaciously, overtly, predictably evil that it honestly gave me chills -- especially the chanting about offshore drilling. Jesus DOGSHIT.

Goodgrief said...

I saw a clip of Palin on John Stewart and someone asked her about being the vice president and she answered that she wished someone would explain to her exactly what a VP does because she doesn't have a clue. So I guess this was the best McCain could come up with. You know he is going to be pushing up daisies by the end of the four years and this is who is going to be running the country. Yeah, I feel a lot better.

Dianne P said...

1. No, I don't think it was accidental. I think it was brilliant (in a twisted way). Her name got out there, shortly followed by information about her daughter's pregnancy, people piled on and said a lot of ill-considered things about her parenting, etc. The result is that she's virtually bullet-proof now because any criticism can be misconstrued and misrepresented as sexist. Even better, she can attack all she wants, but no one can return fire without looking like a douchebag. She gets to call herself a pitbull, but no one can refer to her as an attack dog.

2. My understanding, via NPR, NYT, etc. is that McCain wanted Lierberman or maybe Pawlenty, and Rove wanted someone who would appeal to the religious right and to fiscal conservatives alike. And as an added bonus, make the Dems look sexist for not putting HRC on the ticket. Had McCain chosen Lieberman, a fight on the convention floor was threatened. So he went with Palin. And is probably happy to do so, as it has greatly increased his chances of winning in the general election. Damn, that Karl Rove is an evil genius.

3. Palin is more like Pat Buchanan in a skirt: abstinence-only sex ed, no abortion even in cases of rape or incest, and an unsavory interest in banning books. She has demonstrated ignorance of the Pledge of Allegiance, stating that the words "Under God" were put in by the Founding Fathers and shouldn't be removed. In fact, the P of A was written long after the founding fathers, and the words "Under God" were added in the 1950s. My daughter knew that when she was 11 years old.

All in all, not someone I want a heartbeat away from the presidency, especially when POTUS is an old dude with a history of melanoma.

Susan said...

I heard another spin on picking Palin today. My friend's theory is that she is a sacrificial lamb...McCain picked a woman, and when all of these scandals break, she'll step aside, the Repubs will get who they really want for VP, and McCain can say he tried to give people a Hilary surrogate, but it didn't work out.

Don't know if I buy this, but I could see a version of this being viable.

oldhippieinsideasoccermom said...

Sarah Palin for VP has been Rush Limbaugh's pet project for months. I know this because I work with people who accept everything that man says as the gospel truth. I think that fact alone speaks volumes about the intent of the GOP in picking her.

Anonymous said...

Yellow -- Can I vote for you???

Bad Momma said...

Palin helps fill in the gaps to appease the religious right, right to lifers & NRA. She also is helping shape McCain's Energy policy with off-shore drilling. I was extremely sceptical and at first thought what Petra did ("My friend's theory is that she is a sacrificial lamb..")

After I heard Palin speak, I was impressed ( and a little afraid). She is an extremely well spoken attack dog. By her own admission, a pitbull with lipstick! Should be an interesting election year!

mazemerizing said...

The thing that galls me about Sarah Palin and her daughter isn't that she's a 17-year-old that got pregnant. Yeah, that happens. But not all 17-year-old girls who get pregnant have mothers who openly promote that abstinence should be taught to high schoolers rather than sex education which would include abstinence AND birth control AND, most importantly, protection against AIDS and any number of diseases. Sarah should have taken the time to discuss openly with her daughter what could happen if one night abstinence flies out the window.

Well, that galls me and almost everything else about her. I think in the long run it will prove to be a miscalculated risk of McCain to choose her. All her positive (?) publicity and Republican spin won't last forever. And I agree, McCain eight years ago was a hot ticket. Shame he's had to assume the party stance that Bush has done a good job in the last eight years. Lowest approval rating of any president ever.

And I don't have the link, but Jon Stewart had the best video of Bill O'Reilly and Karl Rove's hypocrisies regarding Palin/Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancies and Sarah Palin/Hillary Clinton and sexism in the campaign. He nailed it.

redgurl72 said...

Spot on Enty. You're back!

Kelli said...

Can one of them just explain to us how they plan on saving this economy? I'm tired of hearing generalizations about how they are going to do this and do that. I don't want to hear promises. I want them to convince me..I don't want to hear them spew all this enthusiam only to have it all come down to the 'smoke and mirrors' bullshit.

lutefisk said...

Brenda--I am not judging her on her daughter's pregnancy, rather I am judging her on not wanting sex education taught in schools, etc. I just feel that it is very hypocritical to promote something when she can't get her own child behind what she stands for.
It is kind of like Jessica Simpson having to wear a virginity ring, and then going out & sleeping with everyone possibly during/after her marriage. I just find it hypocritical ---that is all.
She can handle her own family anyway she wants, but I don't want her values forced upon anyone else.

lutefisk said...

mazemerizing & ernestine--thank you. You posted what I was trying to say , but much better.
I agree with you both.

Molly said...

UGH!!!!! she cuts taxes?????? someone is buying the mccain bullshit! there are no taxes in alaska. they get checks sent to them as part of the oil wealth. meanwhile their schools suck.

this is hillary lite and if mccain thinks the independents are going to sign on just because he picked a woman who is unknown, has popularity ratings that are dropping and has shown that she does nothing with regard to womens rights, he needs to put down the crack pipe.

i don't want to get into the daughter, but palin herself was pregnant when she got married. so this bullshit about abstinence in her life is just that, bullshit.

meanwhile, national enquirer reports they have a lot of dirt on her and says they have proof she was having an affair with her husbands business partner. business partner just requested that his divorce records be sealed. wonder why? the court said no tho, so let's see what is dug up on that front.

i could go on and on because i know someone who lives in alaska but i'm late to the party and nobody is going to see this anyways.

lutefisk said...

me--i don't mind meeting back here in 2 years & let you know what my kids are up to. I don't think my words will be back to haunt me.

and in regards to every child being a blessing--does that hold true about minority children who have kids at 14, & become grandmothers buy the time they are 28? I would hate to think there is a double standard out there for what constitutes a blessing.

Molly said...

and anyone who is proud of being a pitbull w lipstick isnt someone i want representing my country!!

BlahFrickinBlah said...

The fact that she has a 4 month old baby (w/Down Syndrome or not) and wants to be VP makes me question her judgment. VP isn't a light job with easy hours. She'll never see that baby let alone the other kids. Her other kids can probably handle the time away from Mom during her term but the baby? That first year is critical. Going back to work after 3 days? WTF kind of mother is that? You can't be there for your kids when it's convenient for your schedule. It's not like she has to work 2 jobs to keep food on the table and that is the reason she is away from her kids. Why have kids if you are just going to have a nanny raise them? Keep your legs closed if that is the case. To put your kids under that type of microscope with one days notice and to have your special needs baby take a backseat to your ambitions doesn't say a lot for her as a person let alone anyone that I would want running my country. As for her pregnant daughter, she is going to have a hell of a time with life in the next couple of years w/o her doing it in front of the free world. Nice move to put the most difficult time in your daughter's life on blast for all the world to see. That won't be stressful at all for her. ::eyeroll:: I would say the same thing if Palin was a man. I always thought John Edwards was an asshole for running when his wife was battling cancer. Take care of your family. They come first. At least they SHOULD come first.

Before anyone asks, yes, I am a mom. I have two boys and had my oldest at the age of 17 so I do know what I'm talking about on this topic. I feel sorry for Bristol. It's a shame that she can't rely on her Mom when she needs her the most. I hope the Dad is a good man and is there for those kids.

Anonymous said...

Biden's wife and infant daughter were killed in a car crash when he was about to take office in the beginning of his career. His sons survived and it took them YEARS to recover - they were horribly injured.

I wonder if anyone suggested Biden shouldn't have taken a public office when those boys needed him at home.

By the way, say what you think about Palin's daughter getting pregnant at 17 . . what was Obama doing at 17? According to his autobiography, getting stoned, drunk and hoovering up blow.

At 17 a person is making choices DESPITE what their parents' values taught them. Ask yourself, when you were 17 and up to no good (we can only hope), was it your mom's fault?

Anonymous said...

Btw - my kids are 20, 10, 4 and 2. They are insanely adorable and definitely going to be up to no good at some point. Probably tomorrow LOL

Molly said...

ace tomato, yes, someone did make the suggestion that biden shouldn't continue. it was joe biden. other senators like hubert humphrey and ted kennedy convinced him to keep his senate seat.

also, i don't think people care that this young girl is pregnant, that happens. they're slamming the fact that mom is such a fucking hypocrite about abstinence since she was pregnant when she married and her daughter will be, too. if palin didn't preach abstinence and wasn't pro-life, i doubt anyone would be bashing her.

and that's all i really want to say about the daughter's situation because i feel sorry for her.

Anonymous said...

WASILLA TAX CUTS

This year, an accomplishment mentioned perhaps most often by Palin's supporters is that she cut taxes as mayor of Wasilla. Ironically, she took her first steps into local politics with the intent of preserving a controversial new tax and expanding local government.

In 1992, when Palin first ran for city council, Wasilla had just adopted a 2 percent sales tax and was setting up a police department. The 28-year-old Palin was approached by several council members to help them fight off anti-tax elements, who were saying no new stores would ever come to Wasilla if it had a sales tax. A 1992 Palin ad called her a "new face, new voice," who would work for "a safer, more progressive Wasilla."

As it turned out, the new sales tax built the infrastructure that turned Wasilla into the Mat-Su area's commercial hub. Booming sales tax revenues also made possible Palin's other tax cuts after she became mayor in 1996.

To become mayor, however, Palin had to bump off three-term incumbent John Stein, who had ushered in the sales tax and police force. Three terms were enough, she said. He had lost touch with the community. It was time for a change. The voters agreed.

Wasilla's growth was taking off, and Palin pushed for bonds to build sewer, water and roads. New big-box stores wanted to be in the city so they could get sewer, water and police protection, even if it meant being annexed. Palin's city was not necessarily an aesthetic crown jewel, especially along the Parks Highway, but the long snake of stores was doing good business. Sales tax revenues grew by half a million dollars a year. Much of the revenue was coming from people who lived outside the town.

Palin was able to cut property taxes by three-quarters while eliminating small taxes such as the personal property tax and the business inventory tax. She wasn't doing this by shrinking government, however: The cost of running the growing city, apart from capital projects and debt, rose from $3.9 million in fiscal 1996 to $5.8 million in fiscal 2002. Excess sales tax revenues went to paying for capital improvements such as roads and government buildings, says city finance director Ted Leonard.

Palin had priorities. She shrank the local museum's budget and deterred talk of a new library and city hall. But she also put in bike paths and obtained funds for storm-water treatment to protect the area's many lakes. She successfully pushed a half-percent sales tax increase to build a $15 million multi-use indoor ice arena. The popular sports complex is not breaking even, as its advocates projected, but the city's subsidy has been cut from $600,000 to $125,000 a year.

Jackie said...

Biden spoke at my college graduation and was booed by half the people there b/c it was too soon after 9/11 and he was making generalized statements about foreign policy and trying to push his agenda. It was not the time or place. He admitted to barely getting through college and getting bad grades b/c it was a "party school" back then. I think he's a nice man but I don't think his ideas would ever work and I see him more as a guy who has been desperate/obsessed to be president since decades ago. He is wetting his pants right now to be a vp pick, but I feel it's more to do with ego as opposed to McCain who genuinely wants to help his country.

Jackie said...

And for the record, if Palin was a man no one would care that she had a pregnant teenage daughter, a baby with down syndrome or a ton of kids in general. It's so sexist the way people question her as a mother and then never once mention the role of her husband who is also a father. And btw, Obama himself is the product of a teennage mother and look where he is today.

Kitty said...

If Palin was a sugeon or a lawyer no one would question. I know the hours those jobs require. So let's not be coy here; those of you who are questioning her are probably Democrats.

And for the record, I was a teenaged mother (got married FIRST before I got pregnant) and had TWO severely sick children. They were in the hospital more than at home for a couple of years.

...

Kitty said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dianne P said...

1. Regarding the pregnant daughter thing. We don't know what she did or did not tell her daughter about what to do if she un-abstained from sex. They may well have discussed it. Maybe daughter and boyfriend used a condom and it broke. Teen pregnancy can happen to any teenager in any family who has sex. I don't agree with abstinence-only sex ed--that's what I have a problem with and I prefer to leave SP's daughter out of it.

2. I have 2 kids, one is 17 and one is 14 and has a learning disability. There are times in my life when family stuff has been pretty stable and others when it has been hell (like, last year). My career would be quite different if I hadn't chosen to have kids. I have no problem with saying that if one has a special needs infant and a pregnant teenage daughter, that the timing to be VP might not be right. Please note that I have raised the question of whether it's a good idea, I have not condemned her or her mothering skills, of which I know nothing. I'm just saying it should be OK to discuss, as Biden's situation was discussed in the past and Edward's decision to run after his wife was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer was discussed.

The only people in the world to whom I am truly indispensable are my kids.

And yeah, if it were Obama in this situation, I might say, gee, maybe the time is not right for him.

Molly said...

ace tomato, thank you for posting that. i kept reading she didn't cut taxes as governor because they don't have taxes. your article shows she cut sales and property tax as mayor. big difference.

thanks!

Dianne P said...

Ace Tomato-

I don't want to seem dismissive of what you've posted about her efforts to control costs. I think my ideal candidate would be someone who is FISCALLY conservative and SOCIALLY progressive.

I'm not seeing anyone who really fits that description.

Kitty said...

Here's a post for everything you thought you knew about Sarah Palin but were too (fill in the blank) to learn: Palin Rumors
13. yes, she was pregnant when she got married

14.No, so far there’s no confirmation she had an affair while she was married, and they’ve denied it pretty strongly. No, she wouldn’t be the first Christian woman who got a little on the side, if it were true.

15. No, she wasn’t named as a co-respondent in a divorce; there’s no evidence she had an affair with her husbands’ business partner. The partner tried to have his divorce records sealed because he was being harrassed by journalists who used them to get his phone number.

16. Yes, barring immaculate conception, Bristol appears to have had sex with her fiancee. No, Bristol didn’t receive only “abstinence-only” sex ed.



...

lutefisk said...

Hey Ace--when I was 17 I had my boyfriend break-up with me twice because I WOULDN'T sleep with him--once the night before my SAT's, & on Valentine's Day too.
Needless to say, I went to the prom with someone else. So speaking for myself, I was staying out of trouble at that age.

Dianne P said...

I was reading an article, which may or may not be true, that quoted a waitress in Alaska as overhearing Palin say, the day after one of the Democrat primary debates, "So, Sambo beat the bitch."

The article was saying that she is racist, vindictive, etc. and that people are too frightened of her to go on record. I have no idea if this stuff is true, but it needs to be examined, because if it is, then she has no business being in the WH.

Stuff like that is a deal breaker to me.

Anonymous said...

Palin isn't old enough to use the term "Sambo" lol. I think we've met quota on outrageous, completely unsubstantiated rumors about Palin this week.

I agree with you on the socially progressive thing, Dianne P - I am pro-choice myself. But I respect the term "choice" there. Palin has her own beliefs. No woman is obligated to be okay with abortion.

Remember, the President and the VP do not determine the legality of abortion rights - that is the Supreme Court's job. And with a Democratic Congress, it isn't likely to be any challenge.

McCain and Palin are pro-lifers, and I see them pointing that out because the Republican party has a heavy pro-life faction in the conservative base - so I view it as reassuring the base - but they can't really DO anything about it, and they are not making it a platform.

Kitty said...

For those who are contributing to the Palin rumor mill, have the guts -- or grow a pair -- and admit that you never would have voted for a Repub ticket in the first place. There's no disgrace in it. Simply put: Your politics are different. So why resort to this vile behavior?

...

Dianne P said...

Hi, Kitty. I'm sorry I repeated that rumor about the racist thing, because it is totally unsubstantiated and not from a reputable source. Some of the other stuff--like the book banning--has been discussed in the MSM (for what that's worth), and the business about the pledge of allegiance, for example, is on record.

There's a lot of molehill into mountain stuff over relatively small things, like the number of colleges she attended. Unless she was kicked out of school for egregious behavior, I don't think it makes much of a difference, and even then, it was so long ago. I don't think anyone has claimed that she's an intellectual giant or academic type (and no, I'm not saying she's dumb, I imagine she's quite intelligent).

I definitely don't care about the family stuff, and if there was an authenticated report of her having an adulterous affair, it wouldn't really change the way I feel. I feel that sexual hypocrisy is so rife among politicians on both sides of the aisle that it's pretty much endemic.

As for whether I would vote for McCain--well, I made up my mind who to vote for this week. I did not vote for Obama in the primary. There are many things I like about him, and some thinks I don't. I really admired John McCain back in 2000 and I have often wished that he, not GWB, was the Republican candidate then. I would probably have voted for Al Gore over McCain in 2000, but in 2004 if I had a choice between McCain and Kerry I probably would have voted for McCain.

I have voted for Republicans before, especially when that person came close to my ideal of "fiscally conservative and socially progressive," and will probably do so again. Indeed, that type of person could easily be either a centrist Republican or a centrist Democrat.

I was disappointed by McCain's choice of running mate as it is a clear move away from the center.

lutefisk said...

Kitty--my very 1st time voting I voted Republican-- I thought he was a better candidate. I am not locked into either party.

Dianne P said...

Okay, this will be my last post on the topic (I hope). I do think that if some of the things out there are true, then people need to consider them in the context of her character. Character does matter, and I don't wish to imply that it doesn't.

slainte said...

Some insight on Palin (make sure to read the whole thing):
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/kilkenny.asp

Long time lurker, first time poster. Not sure why I chose this topic for the first time but I guess some of the comments made me overcome my laziness! Not sure I want to know other commenter's "politics" either so I hope this doesn't become a regular thing in the next 60 days! I'll take my gossip, ahem, straight and go to other blogs for a political fix!

Anonymous said...

I just want to point out that this is the most intelligent, thoughtful and decent discussion on politics I have ever encountered on the internet.

This place rocks, and I love that we can all have different views and discuss them and get something out of the discussion. We may not change our opinions, but we do get to really see the other person's thoughts and reasons for their views.

But isn't it time someone mentioned Ben Affleck? I'm feeling withdrawal coming on!!

lutefisk said...

Ace--a fix for your Benny addiction:
http://www.celebritywonder.com/html/benaffleck.html

lutefisk said...

I just want to add that my parents were very consevative with how they brought us up, but always trusted us. One thing my mother did say was to always leave a situation like a lady--never give anyone a reason to talk about you.
I live in the same community I grew up in, & it is true. I can run into anyone or their parents, & know that I have nothing in my past to be embarrassed about. This is something I told my daughter, & I hope she follows it.

Kitty said...

Vote however you want. That's your business. I don't care how you vote this year. I don't even care if you believe these rumors or not.

It's obvious from reading some of these comments that some people here never had intentions of voting for the Repub ticket, and yet they find the need (or maybe malicious thrills?) in perpetuating myths and lies about a woman of whom they know nothing.

I admit that I've never voted for a Dem and probably never will, because the Dems' values and goals are not my own. My best friend is a diehard liberal. She and I respect each other's choices and would never dream of disparaging the other's candidate of choice.

By joining in the rumor mill, you're saying more about yourself than anyone else. It makes you look like the judgemental one.

...

Molly said...

kitty, i won't say that because i look at the specific candidates each election, what their platforms are, what they've accomplished and i make my choice. i've voted republican probably more often than i've voted democrat. and even w/o the rumors, palin shouldn't be vp, in my opinion.

bionic bunny! said...

interesting discussion.
in '95, while vacationing in cancun, we met mccain's then speech writer at one of the swim-up bars. we spent the rest of our trip hanging with them and another couple, and got really fired up about mccain.
2000, we were excited and hopeful about the positive changes he could make. we all know how that went.
we know that our vaca friend is no longer his speech writer, and don't know why, we've since lost touch.
but somewhere in there, mccain did the flip-flop to kowtow to the conservative repubs. it won him the nom, but it has certainly lost him my respect. obama is pissing me off with the rolled up shirtsleeves and semi-antiamerican (i said SEMI) moves-refusing the standard lapel pin, removing the flag from his private jet and replacing it with his own logo, little things, but annoying to a gal with a flag pole in her yard).
and as soon as mccain announced his running mate, i said "boy, he's cooked his goose".
honestly, i'm not crazy about either one of them right now.

but i do want to say one thing. people are going on about mccain's age. 72 is not really that old! my grandmother re-married at 73, we just celebrated her 100th birthday. my parents are 72, and sharp as tacks. sure, mom's having some health problems, none of which are life-threatening (in fact, at 49, i have the same joint problems). they went on a cruise 2 years ago and hiked and did zip lines, all the same stuff any of you would do.
so, yes, palin IS "a heartbeat away from the presidency", but he is healthy, and has access to the best doctors in the country, should he fall ill. so i really wish folks would lay off about his age. heh. i'm more concerned about HER age!
annnnd i don't understand politics, so i don't discuss them. these are just my feelings on patriotism and age-ism. thank you, and good night!

Molly said...

bionic bunny, that's your family tho. mccain's grandfather died in his 60's, his father died when he was 72, and 20% of the men who were our president, were so because someone died or they were assassinated. i don't like the odds.

kitty, i repeated a story that i'd read would be running in the national enquirer. based on their accuracy lately, i do think it's an important story. edwards dibs for vp were dashed when the story broke. are you suggesting palin be treated differently because she's a woman? of course you're not, but i hope this helps you see that there's a difference between gossip and stories that are probably true. and as adrian says, it does say something about character.

i don't like how mccain is trying to distance himself from bush NOW, when he voted with bush 90% of the time.

since he uses the *c* word on his wife, and is so dismissive of women, including mothers of soldiers who are mia (youtube this), i think he's a misogynist.

he stated he would not vote for the Fair Pay Act.

he was wrong about the war.

neither he nor palin are pro-choice and NOW and other organizations do not give either of them high marks.

i cannot afford to have even one more year of the same, let alone four.

an independent org., brookings institute (see washington post), put together comparison charts and obama is raising taxes for anyone making more than $603,403 a year, while mccain is CUTTING THE TAXES of the wealthiest with the biggest cuts going to those who make the most.



enough enough enough!!!! (for me - everyone else is entitled to your opinion and it's interesting reading them here)

Molly said...

also,kitty, are you new here? adrian has two kids. and she sounds like a fabulous mother like a lot of the moms here.

lutefisk said...

Aw shucks Molly! Thanks-- I just do the reverse of everything my own mother did, & it works!

I vote based on how the United States will benefit, not my own agenda. I try not to be close-minded
and let my own religious/personal beliefs get in the way of what is really BETTER for everyone ELSE!!
By the way, when my son was a preemie & I knew he had years ahead of him with speech, physical therapy, & occupational therapy, that was my main focus. My kids come before anything, & I never ask for help. Who will be watching Bristol's child while she finishes school, possibly goes to college, etc? One Grandmother will be back in Alaska, one will be occupied. Childcare is an ENORMOUS expense. Hmm?

Dianne P said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
triunfopark said...

Enty, this is what I love about you...I love you for your mind.
I too was caught in the wave of media spin, I was sure McCain shot himself in the foot.
And while Sarah Palin has become known to all the world perhaps faster even than Monica Lewinsky, at the end of the day the McCain/Palin ticket is no more than a Dog and Pony Show.
Barack Obama is the real deal and who our country needs as President.

triunfopark said...

Slainte---Thank you for that link. I read every word. Extremely informative.
I like what you had to say as well, ditto that.
We could be best friends!

Wil said...

Yes .. Palin's nomination was designed to do what it did .. take the spotlight off Obama. Very Machiavellian if you ask me .. those assholes .. Look America!! Over here!! A Bright Shiny Object!!!

link88 said...

Molly, I agree with you 100%.

I admit that I am a democrat, but like a lot of others I admired McCain's "straight talk" back in 2000 and tended to agree with what he had to say. Until he did his weird yes-man turnabout with Bush which so obviously was to get his party's support for a presidential run. I admire his Vietnam service and POW endurance, but to change your views/voting on crucial issues to further your political aspirations IS NOT standing up for your country. He lost my respect for stopping the reasonable straight talk and towing the party line.

THEN he chooses a strategic/shocking political choice for his running mate, not due to her qualifications (ha) but for the surprise and "renegade" factor, which as a woman I find insulting. This woman is not qualified, period, and it shows either a lack of judgment on his part (scary) or a calculated choice to further his political aspirations/the party's aspirations, rather than what is best for the country. Or both. When he talks about putting America first, it is a joke: He chose someone who, if he should die (as one of the oldest in that extremely high-pressured position), would NOT be able to run the country. Executive experience, my foot! Over 500,000 people? As a Hockey mom and moose-eater? She's shown no intellectual brilliance (like Hillary) or political drive to bring about change with issues Americans care about - she's been a small town local Alaskan "politician" who runs on her charm, and during her short tenure, there are already allegations of corruption and lies about her record of "reform." I don't think Palin ever aspired to go outside of Alaska, or to even think about world and national issues. She is a state and local politician, which is all she should be.

Bottom line: McCain has put himself before his country, and he's not thinking about the well-being of our country with Sarah Palin as second in command. Anyone who truly loves our country wouldn't do that. He's a smart man and a seasoned politician. He knows this.

Molly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Molly said...

naf adrian,i think that's true for most people. don't do what mom and dad did...lol.

link, thanks. two things also have me questioning her judgment. one is her husband sits in on all her meetings as Governor. why? these are executive meetings and are private. joe citizen shouldn't be allowed in there.

the second thing is she tells the story that she was on her way to give a speech in texas i think it was when her water broke. this is with the baby she just had. she says she continued and went and gave the speech and then had to fly somewhere else and catch a connecting flight, but she kept going because she wanted her baby born in alaska. she says her doctor gave her permission to go on the trip before she left and before her water broke.

first of all, every time you have a kid your time in labor is shorter. by the time #4 or #5 comes along you're afraid you're going to drop the baby on it's head in the car on the way over to the hospital. secondly, being her age and carrying a special needs baby means there could have been complications at birth. no doctor would tell a woman it's ok to go on a business trip that late, but even if he did, where the fuck are her brains that she put her baby second to her career? or that she boarded a plane and didn't care if it would have to be diverted just for her ass?

she's either a lying or doesn't have a fucking brain in her twat head. either way i don't want her a heartbeat away from the #1 slot in the country.

Anonymous said...

Wow. I do not think Obama is qualified to be President, but I don't feel I need to call him a twathead or whatever.

The anger about Palin is really freaky. Seriously, you sound FURIOUS.

Also, I find it really bizarre that the liberals are diminishing Sarah Palin's records as "just a token woman".

Personally, I think it is the religion thing. You Obama fans just really, truly hate that she is one of those evangelicals. Me, I'm an atheist. I don't care about her religion - that's her religion.

I suspect she would be embraced if she was a Buddhist or something "hip".

I feel sorry for the Christians. We used to have an indirect joke about them:

"how many Wiccans does it take to change a lightbulb?"

1001. 1 to actually change the lightbulb, and about 1000 to bitch about how everything was so great until the Christians showed up.

[93 93/93 for anyone curious]

Anonymous said...

Okay, that's really making fun of the Wiccans, but I hope you get my point.

Molly said...

ace, i'll try to explain what my beef is and hopefully you'll understand. if not, that's cool too.

i would refer to anyone whose water breaks and continues to travel despite the fact that she knows she could putting other passengers at risk for missing their connecting flights, and ignoring the fact that her baby may have complications at birth, a *stupid twat*. that has nothing to do with politics, everything to do with being a stupid selfish traveler and a reckless mother. am i furious about it? no. but i'm not going to give her a pass on it either.

as for her being a token woman, that's easy enough to understand why so many people are saying that. it's because she's not the most qualified woman to take the spot of vp. names were mentioned of more qualified women above. he didn't want someone really strong, he wanted someone who doesn't know the lay of the land so he can dictate to her. alaska is like another world all together. they have problems of one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the country. when people look at that they say you have to understand the different culture there. okay, they are correct, there is a different culture in alaska and a different lifestyle. what that tells me is that she's not going to be well prepared to run this country based on two years of her being governor of alaska. it's not the same as two years experience being governor of mass or oklahoma or iowa. it's just not.

i do not like her position on women's rights. she is not pro-woman nor is he. he didn't vote, but said he would have voted against the fair pay act.

i am very concerned with the type of judges that will appointed to the supreme court under mccain/palin. that's where decisions about roe v wade are made (i'm saying this for the benefit of anyone reading - i can tell you know your shit and already know this).

i do not like the fact that no pro-woman's group is endorsing her.

i do not like her treatment of animals in alaska.

i could go on and on, but i won't. i just wanted you to see there is some thought behind my decision. i've voted more republicans into office than i've voted for dems.

she's a lightweight and this shows me that mccain is not going to surround himself with strong people. biden is a very strong woman's advocate and is the most knowledgable person on foreign affairs in washington. this tells me that obama is going to surround himself with the best possible people he can.

that's it. thanks for respectfully asking your questions. we can agree to disagree and go agree about gossip now.

:-)

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