On the one hand McCain’s picking Alaskan Governor, Sarah Palin, for VP takes away HIS biggest weapon – political and foreign policy experience over Barack Obama, while it is a direct appeal to the legion of disaffected female voters who’ve felt Hillary Clinton got a raw deal from the Democrats and the MSM.
Incredibly enough, in the mere hours since the pick was announced, many amazingly non-self-reflective Democrats have assailed Governor Palin over the same issue that Barrack Obama is weakest on, in effect, highlighting his biggest drawback on the day after his biggest speech!
I expect most of that misguided and politically inept Democratic criticism to cease once word filters down from the Obama camp that that kind of criticism isn’t helping their own cause.
After all, the anti-Palin arguments are virtually ALL also anti-Obama ones as well.
“If she were a man, would she have been chosen?”
If he weren’t black, would he have been the darling of the MSM?
“Two years governing the small state of Alaska?”
Yes, and astoundingly enough, with that she is still the ONLY one of the major four to have ANY executive experience.
“Zero foreign policy experience?”
Ditto for Barack Obama.
“Zero D.C. experience?”
Has that (D.C. experience) suddenly become a GOOD thing???
“She’s anti-abortion!”
OK, so “she’s anti-abortion” – the latest NY Times/CBS poll (could you get a more liberally biased poll than that?) has Americans OVERALL: 39% supporting abortion “generally available,” 38% “available but with stricter limits than now and 22% not permitted. So, in a country in which at least 60% of the population wants stricter limits on abortion than we have now, how does an anti-abortion stance hurt her?
Do you see where this is going?
Every attack on Palin’s youth (she’s 44, three years younger than Barack Obama) and inexperience comes back to highlight Barack Obama’s lack of same.
At this point it’s best to have this election boil down to ideology for the Democrats.
Especially with EVERY anti-Palin argument also coming back as an anti-Obama one.
Incredibly enough, in the mere hours since the pick was announced, many amazingly non-self-reflective Democrats have assailed Governor Palin over the same issue that Barrack Obama is weakest on, in effect, highlighting his biggest drawback on the day after his biggest speech!
I expect most of that misguided and politically inept Democratic criticism to cease once word filters down from the Obama camp that that kind of criticism isn’t helping their own cause.
After all, the anti-Palin arguments are virtually ALL also anti-Obama ones as well.
“If she were a man, would she have been chosen?”
If he weren’t black, would he have been the darling of the MSM?
“Two years governing the small state of Alaska?”
Yes, and astoundingly enough, with that she is still the ONLY one of the major four to have ANY executive experience.
“Zero foreign policy experience?”
Ditto for Barack Obama.
“Zero D.C. experience?”
Has that (D.C. experience) suddenly become a GOOD thing???
“She’s anti-abortion!”
OK, so “she’s anti-abortion” – the latest NY Times/CBS poll (could you get a more liberally biased poll than that?) has Americans OVERALL: 39% supporting abortion “generally available,” 38% “available but with stricter limits than now and 22% not permitted. So, in a country in which at least 60% of the population wants stricter limits on abortion than we have now, how does an anti-abortion stance hurt her?
Do you see where this is going?
Every attack on Palin’s youth (she’s 44, three years younger than Barack Obama) and inexperience comes back to highlight Barack Obama’s lack of same.
At this point it’s best to have this election boil down to ideology for the Democrats.
Especially with EVERY anti-Palin argument also coming back as an anti-Obama one.
34 comments:
Based on your post, I take it that you support McCain's choice of a running mate.
I think it's a very risky choice AM.
Opponents will almost certainly see it as cynical and it is, in my view, so much as virtually all politics is cynical.
I do like Palin's down the line Conservative stands (pro-gun/self defense, low tax, pro-business, pro-drilling, etc.), even though she and I apparently disagree over first trimester abortion (I support it, she doesn't).
As I've said from last year, I'm very torn over this election.
I believe that we may be heading into some unavoidable economic hard times.
Two major wars, a huge domestic security build-up and over $20 BILLION EACH to NYC (for 9/11) and New Orleans (Katrina) have played a huge part in radically increasing government spending and deepening the budget deficit and increasing our national debt.
Bush's tax cuts have halved the deficit over the past four years by increasing tax revenues.
As I said, no matter who gets in, there will be a Democratic Congress that will enact a Democratic agenda - higher taxes (thus lower tax revenues), more social spending (further de-incentivizing work) and retrenching on much of the domestic security agenda that has kept the country safe (the FISA wiretaps and the Patriot Act).
I believe ALL those things will have very negative effects and if McCain should be elected, I fear that the Liberal MSM (mainstream media - about 83% of those in the MSM are registered Democrats) will attempt to lay the blame that would belong to a disastrous Democratic Congress at the feet of McCain and, by extension, Conservatism.
I lived though Jimmy Carter, so I've seen the policies that the likes of Charlie Rangel and Barack Obama support in action....the result back then was STAGFLATION ("the worst economy since the Great Depression") with double digit unemployment, double digit inflation and double digit interest rates.
There's absolutely no reason to think that those failed policies re-enacted now, will have a different result.
Ironically enough, AM, I remain a registered Democrat. I call myself a "Zell Miller Democrat", after my favorite modern-era Democrat.
My cousin is a Conservative Democrat serving in NY State's Legislature.
I do not mention his name and do not endorse him publically because my stands are even more Conservative than his own and many are, in fact, antithetical to current Democratic policies, so I fear that might do more harm than good.
I DON'T revile Barack Obama. I only wish he were, at least economically, more like Professor Walter E Williams.
I see Barack Obama as a gifted orator, with a great deal of charisma, and with some troubling associations (Bill Ayers, Jerremiah Wright) and who supports some terrible economic and social policies.
As a candidate, he's lightyears ahead of the likes of John Kerry and Al Gore, in terms of personal charisma, speaking style and delivering his Party's message.
The Democrats may have found a winning candidate in Barack Obama, but his policies appear nothing short of "Carteresque," and I find that extremely problematic.
I believe that the Obama's mean well, that their hearts are in the right place, but the things they endorse....a more socialist economic policy for America...are antithetical to my every core belief.
In short, I see him as a good man advancing extremely poor social and economic policies.
In this post I'm not so much defending or endorsing Sarah Palin, as pointing out that some of the arguments that some have used against her, in fact highlight some of Barack Obama's biggest weakness - his lack of experience and thin resume.
I am probably more conservative than you. But I reframe from saying how I really feel on blogs and podcasts.
As an ultra Christian conservative American woman who has been classified as black, I do not like to be lumped in with homosexuals. You cannot compare what blacks have gone through in this country with what homosexuals have experienced. Racism is still a problem in this country. I believe that black leadership has been bullied and used by the homosexuals into accepting and promoting the "gay" agenda at the expense of the black community.
Whew, I had to get that off my chest.
Another issue is that I thought I wanted a Conservative Supreme Court. Now after several Supreme Court decisions eroding affirmative action legislation, I rather have a rational and balanced Court that respects the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. However, I definitely do not want liberal Justices appointed to the Supreme Court.
I wish I could just not participate in the electoral process. But I cannot reframe from voting. People gave their lives so that I can vote. Voting is my way of saying thank you.
As for abortion, I wish the pro-lifers would spend as much energy helping the children who are already here on this Earth. There are so many children who need a loving home. How many of them have taken any of these children into their homes. Selah.
Great analysis, JMK! I'm keeping my fingers crossed on McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for VP. She has some strong points that can help McCain with the Republicans' conservative base but her lack of experience provides the Obama camp a new opening to attack McCain. We'll know if he was right come November.
And AM, I think your criticism of pro-lifers is unfair.
Many pro-lifers ARE "helping the children...already on Earth", not just fighting abortion. And they're helping their mothers, too. Operating crisis pregnancy centers is perhaps the most obvious way pro-lifers do this. But running such centers isn't the kind of sensational story likely to top the evening news. So the story goes largely untold. But pro-lifers are quietly taking care of those already born. It was wrong for you to imply otherwise.
"I am probably more conservative than you. But I reframe from saying how I really feel on blogs and podcasts." (AM)
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I don't doubt that at all, AM.
My wife was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica and she is more Conservative (in many respects) than I am.
Moreover, I don't object to people of African descent seeing the election of Barack Obama as something far more than merely an historical event.
It is, in fact, a far more significant historical event than the election of JFK, the first Catholic President, given the uniquely terrible context of race relations throughour our nation's history.
So I fully understand the entirely different context that many black Americans see this election in, compared to whites, even Liberal Democratic whites, who themselves support Barack Obama.
I know many Conservative blacks will pull the lever for Barack Obama and that is completely understandable to me. I can see the pride and sense of redemption my wife has, over this race.
If I have any regret at all, it is that Barack Obama is not, say, a Condoleeza Rice or a Walter E Williams, but I do understand the context and I KNOW that as much as I generally revile "identity politics" and "ethnic block voting," I can fully understand and appreciate it, in this case.
I also agree with you over the very clear distinction between homosexual rights and racial/ethnic civil rights.
I'm not saying that homosexuals shouldn't have some basic protections, but their plight is not at all on the same level as that of the black civil rights struggle - two entirely different situations altogether.
"I wish I could just not participate in the electoral process." (AM)
I'm glad you don't refrain from doing that. I'm glad you DO vote, you're an informed and interested voter.
And I'm glad you're blogging as well. Even though we almost certainly wouldn't agree on everything (we could probably exchange reems of emails over the efficacy of affirmative action and race/gender-based preferences), I greatly respect your opinions and am glad their are folks like you and Don out there.
I also agree with you about the pro-life movement, and that's probably why I've come to accept a very awkward compromise for a former-Catholic - supporting unrestricted first trimester abortion, while opposing later term abortions, as fetuses/children as young as 21 weeks have survived outside the womb.
I always enjoy hearing from you, AM. It's a treasure.
You're consistently thought-provoking in your posts.
Hi Seane-Anna!
I agree that it's too early to tell whether Sarah Palin will help or hurt McCain.
It does make this a very interesting election, although I don't know, in fact I doubt it will convert many Democratic women voters.
At first blush, I see her matching up well against joe Biden, BUT in the primary head-to-head contest, that between Obama and McCain, Obama is younger, more telegenic and more charasmitic than McCain and that could be the deciding factor in this election.
I DO think it'll be a very close election, but I see it as Obama's election to lose. In my view, his camp will have to make some mistakes in order to lose.
I had my doubts about McCain, but after is "at the moment of conception" statement and his VP pick, I am starting to feel a little better about him. I believe the problem with GWB was that his VP wasn't seeking the office of Pres. As a result, GWB was able to misbehave without then next in line breathing down his neck. Unlike JSM, Palin is a solid conservative. If elected, Palin would likely want the POTUS job, so she should keep be able to keep JSM in check otherwise she would run against him in 4 years.
JMK, I really enjoy your comments. They provide great insight. I hope you will join me on a podcast one day.
Thank you for your years of service as a Firefighter. I learned to appreciate firefighters and police officers more after 9/11. While people were running out of the burning buildings, firefighter and police officers were running into them.
"I believe the problem with GWB was that his VP wasn't seeking the office of Pres. As a result, GWB was able to misbehave without then next in line breathing down his neck." (Eric)
That's a very interesting way to look at that and I hadn't really considered it, Eric, although, I'm sure you know that there are many people who believe that Dick Cheney pretty much ran things the last eight years ad had G W Bush to take the blame.
I'm not among that camp, but you do hear that kind of thing.
Actually, I believe, much like Nixon's tenure, the further we get from this era, the BETTER some of the decisions this administration made will look.
Things are often clearer in retrospect.
Seane-ana, what are crisis pregnancy centers?
"JMK, I really enjoy your comments. They provide great insight. I hope you will join me on a podcast one day." (AM)
Maybe you could email me about that? I must admit that I've never engaged in a podcast, in fact, aside from this (blogging) and participating on a few writing (critique) sites and looking things up, I haven't used the PC for much else.
I haven't "pushed the envelope" to say the least.
My email address (jmk444@embarqmail.com) is on my full profile. I wish I could put it up on the primary page, but there was no configuration for that.
"Thank you for your years of service as a Firefighter. I learned to appreciate firefighters and police officers more after 9/11." (AM)
I've had a great time and a very loooong youth because of that, AM, so I consider myself blessed in that regard.
I worked nearly 20 years in the South Bronx and loved every minute of it....great guys, lots of adrenaline.
I broke my folks heart, as did my brother Jim (he was 12 credits away from a Mechanical Engineering degree from Pratt Institute) and I'd taken a Masters degree after a dual biology/psychology (I was studying Physiological Psychology) and we both took and opted for the FDNY.
My Dad had worked in the FDNY for nearly 40 years, after eight years in the Navy (WW II & Korea) and rose all the way up through the ranks of that job to Staff Chief.
Growing up, I knew my Dad LOVED going to work, but through his study groups and other functions, I met a whole lot of guys who LOVED going to work as much as he did.
I quickly found out how much most people DON'T love going to work and that's why I took that test, to have it as an option....and I'm glad I did.
I've met some of the greatest people and have had the most fun you could have on this earth in the FDNY.
It's a great job.
A great job that was devastated in the wake of 9/11 with loss of many hundreds of years of irreplacable fire experience.
Thanks very much for taking the time to exchange views with me. I really appreciate that.
Palin will never get a fair hearing from the MSM. The same MSM that refused to wear American flag lapel pins after 911 because they didn't want to appear biased are the same MSM that gave Obama's convention speech a standing ovation throwing concern over the appearance of bias out the window.
Obama promises change and then selects a VP who has been in Washington since 1972. That doesn't seem to me to the be kind of person who can bring change. It seems to me that Biden is the kind of person who gave us the situation in DC that we now have. The last thing he wants is change.
Palin is a Washington outsider. In fact, living in AK, she is almost an American outsider. Who in the lower 48 ever give AK politics a second thought?
The MSM or the DNC is incapable of pointing out genuine strengths or weaknesses of either party's candidates. The MSM is too idealogical. It's all about the party. Facts are irrelevant.
Strong points for Palin include the facts that she is a mother, practicing pro-lifer (not just lip service), supports the 2nd amendment, isn't afraid to ruffle party feathers, and young (in contrast to McCain). Negatives include the same negatives that Obama has, as JMK pointed out here.
Ultimately, voters will be pulling levers, poking chads, and spreading hand germs on touch screens for Obama or McCain. The VP choice isn't going to be as big a factor in the election as it seems right now.
hey JMK..risky but I think it will prove worth the risk my friend!..come see my take on it and please let me know what ya think!:)
When unclejoe referenced Palin as a "practicing pro-lifer", he is referring to her decision to continue a pregnancy knowing that her son was going to be born with Down's Syndrome.
I think that's a personal choice, because my eldest half-brother has Down's Syndrome as well. He's 51, (my biological dad is almost 71) and has lived a rather happy life.
Down's Syndrome is not the end of the world. It just means that you are going to have health problems and social problems with jackasses who can't understand why you are different. (Sorry for cursing, JMK)
But JMK, I do agree with you on this post. This election is getting more interesting as the days go by.
Oh yeah, I just added you to my blog roll as well. Thanks for all your insightful contributions. You and Dwane T have upped the intellectual content of my blog and I thank you all so much! Take care!
UJ, you're right about the MSM (more than 80% of those in the MSM are registered Democrats and most of those are Liberal Democrats). There's nothing new about that challenge, it shows the need for Conservatives (hardcore Conservatives NOT merely Rupert Murdoch's Fox empire, but REAL Conservatives) to wrest some of the MSM away from its current Liberal ownership.
CBS or ABC, maybe even NBC. Hell the NY Times COULD be saved if it had a more ideologically Conservative ownership.
My primary problems with the MSM are (1) their editorializing in their news delivery and (2) their refusal to acknowledge their innate bias.
I'll check out your pieces ASAP Angel. I always love your take on things.
Thanks for the always thought-provoking comments Zack and for blogg rolling me.
I believe UJ was pointing out the extent of Sarah Palin's pro-life position.
Taking a nown handicapped baby to term IS a personal decision.
Before I got on the FDNY, I worked with the community-based handicapped for about eight years, running community-based programs for those clients placed in community settings.
Down Syndrome people run the gamut from mildly physically and mentally handicapped to severe. With some of the worst, having severe congenital heart defects, along with more severe mental retardation.
I dealt with mostly the more milder cases and they were indeed able to enjoy life and were some of the most affectionate and loving kids you might imagine, still any such disability is a huge undertaking for prospective parents.
As to cursing, anything goes here, except maybe real vile personal atacks and I've never had to worry about that with any of the people who've frequented here.
I do think this will be a very interesting, probably very close and almost certainly a very contentious election.
I expect both sides to smear each other and I think the political polarization that has increased exponentially since...well, since Watergate - the GOP wanted revenge and when Carter's administration saw the economy implode with STAGFLATION, that polariazation (while it still grew, on BOTH sides) started in earnest, back in 1974, saw the "payback" delayed until Bill Clinton's election.
That whole thing bothered me, because Bill Clinton was pretty much a centrist Democrat, far to the Right of Carter, Mondale, Gore, Kerry and for that matter, Obama, as well.
It WILL be interesting.
I also just read about her daugher's pregnancy. Of course, the libs are jumping on it as hypocisy when it is nothing of the sort. 1) Bristol's keeping the baby like pro-lifers do and 2) she plans to marry the father. *Exactly* how prolifers (and, heck, most people regardless) act.
Even Obama is telling people to knock it off, which is one of the better things he's done. Sarah and her family are true to their beliefs.
Hi Rachel!
Yes, I saw the news about her daughter Bristol's pregnancy.
My thinking is, "What of it?"
Conservative ideals aren't inconsistent with "not having problems," all they advocate is that INDIVIDUALS must take responsibility for their own actions and the results.
I have a cousin, about twnety-eight y/o. God bless her, but she never finished HS, hasn't gotten a GED, married a guy, had twins and, of course, money problems that have cost her parents a ton.
She looked into public assistance and was "outraged" that here in NYC they'd actually MAKE (mandate) her work or finish school and they'd make baby-sitting services available to her to do that.
I know her, I love her, BUT I don't sympathize with her view that she should be taken care of at our expense.
If you didn't develop skills - develop them. It's NEVER too late.
If you haven't worked in a long time - no time like the present to get started.
P.S. I also saw that Obama's camp is telling those folks to knock that off.
A wise move.
All this only makes Palin look unfairly attacked (for doing the right thing) AND makes her a "martyr of the MSM."
Her nomination SHOULD be welcome news from the Obama camp - it takes the "experience issue" off the table for BOTH sides.
Apparently, McCain's camp thought experience wasn't going to win the day and he needed to shore down the Conservative base and reach out to independent women.
Time'll tell, but one thing's for sure, the Kos Kids are actually Obama's worst enemy right now.
JMK, I'm freaking ticked off. The left and the media are pure scum!!It's one thing to attack a candidate. A candidate is a public offical, but their family should be off limits! These subhuman pieces of filth think it's acceptable to attack a mother for not aborting her child that has a disability?! Then they attack a her 17 year old daughter for becoming pregnant?! The Palin announcement isn't even 72 hours old yet, and her family's reputation has been trashed, spit on, and tossed around. I don't care if she was a liberal, nobody deserves that kind of treatment, and I PRAY this all backfire on these pieces of scum!!!
"I PRAY this all backfire on these pieces of scum!!! (Tyrone)
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I think a lot of people feel the same way Tyrone!
Although, the Obama camp can’t be directly blamed for this, it’s almost certainly going to hurt them because of the association and worse, it serves to make Palin look like a martyr.
The Obama camp has got to be pulling its collective hair out over this.
In a way, this is the BEST thing that could’ve happened to Sarah Palin and depending upon how well she plays it, it could really help that ticket.
I DON’T get the visceral need of the Kos Kids and the other radicals to smear Palin. There was no need. Her nomination should’ve been a gift – it took the “experience” issue off the table! Moreover, NOBODY votes for VP. In the top card they have a telegenic, charismatic, youthful candidate against an older, wearier one who initially didn’t even have the full support of his own Party’s base! If that’s not a winner, I don’t know what is.
Instead, the Dems come out of the week of their Convention down 2 percentage points in the daily trackers (McCain leads Obama 47% to 45%). The Dems should’ve gotten a 5% to 10% bounce this week! Moreover, polls show that as much as a quarter of the Clinton supporters are considering voting for McCain.
Those are some tough numbers for the Dems!
It very well COULD come back to haunt the Dems especially IF Sarah Palin can come off well and more moderate than she’s been made to appear by the MSM during the GOP Convention.
I found the following quote on the Aunt Jemima's Revenge blog (http://auntjemimasrevenge.blogspot.com/):
"When the subject is a pregnancy to an unwed, minority teenage mother growing up in some (presumably Democratic) urban area, that pregnancy becomes fodder for lectures from conservatives about bad parenting, the perils of welfare spending and so on. But when the subject is a pregnancy to an unwed, white teenager from some small town in a Republican state, that pregnancy is...a celebration of the wonders of God's magnificence--and choosing life!" ― Thomas Schaller
JMK, I missed you today. I have a present waiting for you on my blog. : - )
Sidebar: I will have to conclude my political coverage because it is starting to trouble my soul. I have to return to my inspirational format.
"When the subject is a pregnancy to an unwed, minority teenage mother growing up in some (presumably Democratic) urban area, that pregnancy becomes fodder for lectures from conservatives about bad parenting, the perils of welfare spending and so on..." (AM)
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I'm back with my wife and in the midst of cooking supper. I drove a firefighter from our firehouse, who is battling testicular cancer to Sloane Kettering Memorial Cancer earlier today (we're all taking turns shuttling him and his family to the treatments and doctor's visits) and just got back.
I WILL definitely check out Character Corner ASAP, but my initial response to the above post is "I've NEVER seen that.
Maybe the writer mis-underestimates the Conservative message, which IS NOT merely "teen pregnancy is bad," but more vitally that "the INDIVIDUAL MUST take full personal resoponsibility for their choices/mistakes."
Show me a "Conservative screed" that slams black illigetimacy alone. I've yet to see ONE.
Conseratives DO advocate abstinence and they do excoritate reckless decisions that result in unwanted pregnancies.
Bristol Palin's plight is tragic.
What I find hypocritical is the usually compassionate Democrats sliming the Palins for WHAT?!
Making their daughter and the boy who impregnanted her Marry?
Making Bristol take responsibility for that unplanned for child?
I DON'T get it!
Look, if this is the Liberal response to Brisotl Palin's plight, that's fine, but let's not pretend that it's a response to some mythical "Conservative hypocrisy," because it's NOT. THIS is, in my view, how many of these elitists "really feel" about all kids who make dumb, often tragic mistakes.
So, all I ask is some consistency on their parts.
I AM Conservative and I've assailed (rightly so, in my view) "welfare Queens" and reckless, irresponsible decisions and like just about EVERYONE I am decidedly against teen pregnancy, BUT I've never disparaged kids who "make mistakes" and then take responsibility, and NO, going on "the dole" - public assistance - is NOT "taking responsibility."
AM, I still don't see ANY upside in attacking Sarah Palin over (1) the now almost certainly erroneous story of Bristol Palin being Trig's real Mom - again, protecting her daughter AND taking full personal responsibility for an unwanted child is not a negative and (2) over Bristol Palin's current pregnancy (is she 5 months?....and Trig is 4 months, not that hard to do the math - five minus four = ZERO. Zero credibility that is, for the Kos Kids who began that slimey slander.
AM, I understand your support for Obama. I really do. What I don't understand is your not seeing that the radical Left (the Kos Kids and the Soros brigades) are Obama's BIGGEST liability right now.
Remember Ned Lamont?
The Connecticut Democrat who surged to victory in the Conn Democratic Primary over Lieberman, on the wave of the Soros brigades and the Kos Kids internet support?
Remember what happened to Ned Lamont in the Blue State of Connecticut's general election?
Lieberman came to rout Lamont despite that hard Left's "wave of support."
" I will have to conclude my political coverage because it is starting to trouble my soul. I have to return to my inspirational format." (AM)
Respectfully, I don't think it's your political coverage that troubles your soul, AM.
When you speak on the issues and state the affrimative case for the candidates you believe in, you are very, VERY good.
You write well and you make your points effectively.
I think what "troubles your soul" is lending your credence to such internet smears as "Bristol Palin is Trig's real Mom" and "Bristol Palin's teen pregnancy proves Sarah Palin to be a hypocrit on family values."
I don't believe you're comfortable disparaging a family for merely "taking responsibility" and more importantly (and correctly) forcing their teen daughter and her paramour to take responsibility for their actions.
I've SEEN your inspirational writings and I admire them....you're better than that.
I'd doubt you'd normally traffic so gleefully in such slime, because it goes against your entire grain.
Four or five years from now, if one of the Obama's daughters made a mistake is she "fair game?"
Apparently now, she would be.
No matter what (and I don't like the Obama's politics at all) I'd find that disgustingly offensive.
I'll excoriate Obama's policies and his questionable associations, but I wouldn't blame them (Barack or Michelle Obama) for any mistakes a child of theirs makes, nor would I think it at all amusing if one of those girls did make a mis-step later on.
Doing otherwise would very certainly trouble my own soul.
Hi JMK! This is Solange... I'm so excited to finally work up the nerve to comment on your blog...Keep up the good work!
Now that I have gotten past the pleasantries, there are a few things (rants if you will) I wanted to say in regards to Mc Cain's 'risky' pick of Sarah Palin. His decision to bring her on the ticket continues to confound me, and I was hoping that maybe you could help me see another point of view. If John Mc Cain wants the public to believe the arguments that his ticket has more experience than the Obama-Biden ticket, then what is the purpose of nullifying his STRONGEST argument against the Democratic ticket? Of course, people will continue to delude themselves that such a pick furthers his image as a maverick - However, you and I both know that his choice was done in an attempt to appease the evangelical Christian base who essentially threatned dissent if Mc cain had chosen Leiberman or Ridge.
This is particulary worrisome because -I don't know if you have noticed- we are bogged down in a war that has become more than a hunt for Al Qaeda, but for many (especially evangelicals) is a war against the Christian West and Islam. Some of the things Ms. Palin has had to say in the recent past about foreign policy are especially worrisome. In a speech last June Ms. Palin said the war in Iraq was “a task that is from God.” Mr. Bush made similar claims as he rejected all sound mortal advice on how to conduct the war. Ms Palin also believes that schools should teach creationism (a belief that is contradicted by science and those giant fossils we see at the museum)Ms Palin, judging from her ultra Christian beliefs, shows a propensity to ignore convential wisdom and science.
Secondly,I was dumbfounded when I learned that Ms Palin never owned a passport until 2007. I am even more appalled by supporters who argue that foreign travel isn't a requisite for a job that could one day take on the responsibility of leading the free world. As someone who has spent a significant portion of my life being raised in another country, I am always amazed at the lack of global knowledge displayed by American citizens. We live in a global community and for someone in this day and age to have little to NO interaction with a culture other than ones own speaks volumes to the insular nature and dearth of American knowledge...A sentiment that I am sure you have heard a time or two from your wife.
You consistently mention Obama's ties to Ayers, but I am yet to hear you mention Palin's ties to a party that advocates Alaska's secession from the U.S
I agree up to a point that her daughter's pregnancy (and children) are off limits, but the media has every right to DO THEIR JOB and report A FACT...I agree that it is a personal matter. However,it becomes fodder for discussion for the simple fact that this is the same party who cannot fathom that what I want to do with my uterus is PRIVATE. The hipocracy of the sanctimonious right is mind boggling to say the least.
I could go on and on about this, but I am sure that you too already realize that Mc Cain could have made a better choice. I'll grab the popcorn... you get the soda...they couldnt have made this up in Hollywood even if they tried... Looking forward to your response!
Hi JMK! This is Solange... I'm so excited to finally work up the nerve to comment on your blog...Keep up the good work! (Solange)
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I’m really glad to hear from you Solange. I sure hope you didn’t think I’d respond meanly. I always try avoid that.
You’re a saint, by the way. I LOVE John (great guy), but you’re a saint dealing with him, ALMOST as much of a saint as my wife is, putting up with me.
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“Now that I have gotten past the pleasantries, there are a few things (rants if you will) I wanted to say in regards to Mc Cain's 'risky' pick of Sarah Palin. His decision to bring her on the ticket continues to confound me, and I was hoping that maybe you could help me see another point of view. (Solange)
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WoW! You’re asking a lot, since I’m confounded too, on many things that have taken place recently.
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“If John Mc Cain wants the public to believe the arguments that his ticket has more experience than the Obama-Biden ticket, then what is the purpose of nullifying his STRONGEST argument against the Democratic ticket?” (Solange)
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That’s the GIFT that is the Palin choice. It took experience OFF the table for BOTH sides.
She, like Barack Obama was elected to higher office (he to the Senate and she to a Governorship) in 2006, before that they both held local offices. Her choice SHOULD’VE taken “experience” off the table as an issue.
The irony is that many Democrats have taken to re-making experience an issue, but that only highlights Barack Obama’s lack of same...and he’s at the top of that ticket.
I’d have expected the Left to go after her positions primarily, but they haven’t! The Kos Kid’s lie (claiming that Brisotl Palin was 4 month old Trig’s real mother) has been just one of the slimier lies and that’s insane, as it only serves to make Sarah Palin MORE sympathetic! I don’t get that strategy.
As to WHY the McCain camp chose to take experience OFF the table? Well, apparently they didn’t think that was going to be the decisive issue, so they made this (somewhat cynical choice) to attempt to appeal to those millions of disaffected female Clinton supporters. Polls show that over 20% of those WON’T vote for Obama.
The question is, was this the best way to appeal to them?
Perhaps it was the ONLY way to attempt to appeal to both them and the Conservative base.
Lieberman would’ve been a sure loser for the McCain camp, a signal of his outright capitulation to Liberalism.
Between you and I, there’s no need or reason to capitulate to Liberalism – EVERY problem we now face is due to Liberalism. The mortgage mess was a direct result of Liberal policies that ended “red-lining” and other very necessary banking criteria. Red-lining made it more difficult and more expensive (via higher interest rates) for home buyers to purchase homes in specific (high foreclosure rate) areas. Those same wrong-headed policies ended bank’s relying solely on credit scores and other mathematical parameters to determine which consumers got better loan rates. THAT is folly.
Someone with an 820 credit score deserves a far lower interest rate than someone with a 600 credit score, because the former person is far LOWER of a default risk.
Liberals have fought offshore drilling, drilling in ANWAR and the Bakken Ridge and they’ve opposed nuclear power, all of which has limited the SUPPLY of oil amidst rising demand, resulting in escalating oil prices.
Liberals have also fought AGAINST the FISA wiretaps and telecom immunity, the Patriot Act and FOR Constitutional Rights guaranteed to the “enemy combatants” at Gitmo.
Even Bush’s WORST decisions – the prescription drug boondoggle and the “Shamnesty Bill,” the Liberals took positions that were even worse – they wanted to waste MORE money on the prescription drug boondoggle and wanted a veritable “open border” policy.
As a side note, I’d support open borders too, IF we didn’t have a welfare state and ONLY those coming here to work would be willing to come.
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“This is particulary worrisome because -I don't know if you have noticed- we are bogged down in a war that has become more than a hunt for Al Qaeda, but for many (especially evangelicals) is a war against the Christian West and Islam. Some of the things Ms. Palin has had to say in the recent past about foreign policy are especially worrisome. In a speech last June Ms. Palin said the war in Iraq was “a task that is from God.” Mr. Bush made similar claims as he rejected all sound mortal advice on how to conduct the war. (Solange)
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I believe the enemy in the War on Terror (WoT) has been ill-defined. We are NOT at war with al Qaida, nor with all of Islam. We ARE at war with radicalized Islam, which is a large and growing segment of the Islamic world and we can’t back down, or seek to negotiate a peace with that force. At least not in my view.”
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Ms Palin also believes that schools should teach creationism (a belief that is contradicted by science and those giant fossils we see at the museum) Ms Palin, judging from her ultra Christian beliefs, shows a propensity to ignore convential wisdom and science. (Solange)
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Well, not exactly.
What Palin subscribes to is teaching BOTH evolution and Intelligent Design.
I’ve studied a lot and I’ve taken a LOT of science and math courses and have NEVER come across ANY scientific evidence on whether there is a God, for instance.
In fact, the majority of scientists are believers, like Einstein was, who when remarking on the incredible structure and order to the universe, said, “God does not play dice.”
All that anyway can logically say as to the scientific evidence to the existence of God is, “I DON’T KNOW.”
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“Secondly,I was dumbfounded when I learned that Ms Palin never owned a passport until 2007. I am even more appalled by supporters who argue that foreign travel isn't a requisite for a job that could one day take on the responsibility of leading the free world. As someone who has spent a significant portion of my life being raised in another country, I am always amazed at the lack of global knowledge displayed by American citizens. We live in a global community and for someone in this day and age to have little to NO interaction with a culture other than ones own speaks volumes to the insular nature and dearth of American knowledge...A sentiment that I am sure you have heard a time or two from your wife.
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Yes I have, though I don’t so readily agree.
America has long been the economic Capital of the world and it is a nation so vast that one COULD spend a lifetime seeing just this one country.
That’s not to say that world trtavel isn’t valuable, it is, BUT, let us not kid ourselves and mistake “travel” for “foreign policy experience,” the ONE has nothing to do with the OTHER.
The entire “foreign policy experience issue” is a canard. No Governor, Senator, or Congressman has ANY “foreign policy experience.”
The ONLY people with actual “foreign policy experience” are diplomats and members of the CIA and NSA.
In fact, in my lifetime, the ONLY President elected with any prior foreign policy experience was George Herbert Walker Bush (Bush Sr.) who’d headed the CIA...and he was a foreign policy disaster, alienating and making an enemy of Saddam Hussein the way Jimmy Carter (an even BIGGER failure) had alienated the Shah of Iran, giving radical Islam a base in the Mideast.
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“You consistently mention Obama's ties to Ayers, but I am yet to hear you mention Palin's ties to a party that advocates Alaska's secession from the U.S” (Solange)
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Well, that’s because while Barack Obama’s ties to Bill Ayers are well documented, there isn’t much linking Sarah Palin to that Party. In fact;
“According to Brian Rogers (a McCain spokesman) "Governor Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982," and he provided voter registration documentation showing her to be a Republican. "As you know, if she changed her registration, there would have been some record of it. There isn’t."
“Rogers says that Palin didn’t attend the AIP convention in 1994, "but she visited them when they had their convention in Wasilla in 2000 as a courtesy since she was mayor."
“When asked if Palin ever identified herself as a member of the AIP, Rogers said, "No, she's a lifelong Republican."
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“I agree up to a point that her daughter's pregnancy (and children) are off limits, but the media has every right to DO THEIR JOB and report A FACT...I agree that it is a personal matter. However, it becomes fodder for discussion for the simple fact that this is the same party who cannot fathom that what I want to do with my uterus is PRIVATE. The hipocracy of the sanctimonious right is mind boggling to say the least.” (Solange)
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Let’s be honest about that, Solange, there are many anti-abortion Democrats too.
I support first trimester abortion on demand and after the first trimester ONLY in instances to save the mother’s life.
I base that “compromise” on an arbitrary standard of my own – that an unwilling parent is also an unfit one, at least at that time and so I support the abortion on demand for during the first trimester when the fetus is not yet fully formed, BUT after that, the fetus/child IS fully formed (preemies as young as 21 weeks have survived outside the womb) and at that point we’re dealing with a fully formed human being and must protect that life after that point.
Polls show that most Americans agree with me – with 2/3s of Americans supporting first trimester abortion and 2/3s opposing late term abortion. It seems like a logical compromise.
So Sarah Palin DOESN’T believe in abortion.
Well, she’s walked that walk – five kids including a Downs Syndrome child. I don’t understand where Bristol’s pregnancy undercuts her Mom’s views.
Bristol is not Sarah and kids of all backgrounds and beliefs have problems. I haven’t had a problem with the MSM’s snarky coverage of this, but I HAVE had a problem with them going with the Daily Kos inspired smear – “Bristol is Trig’s real mother.”
Well, it turns out that Trig is 4 months old and Bristol is 5 months pregnant, so it doesn’t take much math, to reveal the lie behind that Kos Kid’s smear. THAT, I do take issue with.
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I could go on and on about this, but I am sure that you too already realize that McCain could have made a better choice. I'll grab the popcorn... you get the soda...they couldnt have made this up in Hollywood even if they tried... Looking forward to your response! (Solange)
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I agree that it is a cynical choice, but politics is by nature a cynical enterprise.
As to a “better choice?”
I can’t say, at this point.
Lieberman would’ve been a far worse choice.
Romney (though I like him) would’ve also had huge problems. “Romney-care” in MA is very much like “Hillary-care” and Obama-care” a failed attempt to provide “universal coverage” by mandating all citizens who don’t qualify for Medicare and Medicaid buy their own insurance.
Huckabee would’ve been another poor choice, as he’s as prone to stick his foot in his mouth as...as...well, as Joe Biden is.
Thankyou for taking the time to read my humble blog and to comment so thoughtfully, Solange.
I really enjoy exchanging ideas and opinions of people, ESPECIALLY those I disagree with. I really hope you feel free to comment here whenver the mood strikes you...and say HI to John for me.
jmk, after tonight's performance by Palin, I feel much better. I'm still pissed at the media for them being the trash that they are, but Palin is a tough gal. She gave an awesome speech tonight. The media wants her to resign so bad, but it's not going to happen. So lets see what the latest bag of fluff they have.
Interestingly enough, I saw someone (on CNN, I think) trying to explain (in a rare self-reflective moment) why the MSM has been so harsh on Sarah Palin and gone with some of the most tawdry personal attacks.
It may have been Anderson Cooper, and he said, "I think many reporters are angry that someone they don't know was nominated. The media doesn't like to be surprised and when they're surprised they go into attack mode and get into this feeding frenzy they're in now...I think some of them are angry that this woman has never dined with "ME", they tend to like people who come to them on bended knee."
That's as damning an indictment of the MSM that I've ever heard from one of their own.
Still, that wasn't so much as a rebuke, but an explanation.
I think this will be a VERY close race and it could ultimately turn on something relatively inocuous and that's probably why both camps are on such heightened alert.
I think the gratuitous attacks on Palin's family helped the McCain camp by making her look like a martyr.
Hey, JMK. Just checking in to get your feed back on Gov. Parlin's speech.
Conservative Brother and JMK, what news coverage are you watching or listening to??? Other than the tabloids and a few blogs, the news has been extremely favorable toward Gov. Parlin.
Typo. Should be "feedback", not "feed back".
"Conservative Brother and JMK, what news coverage are you watching or listening to??? Other than the tabloids and a few blogs, the news has been extremely favorable toward Gov. Parlin." (AM)
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AM, on this issue, you are blinded not only by partisanship, but also, I believe by some degree of ethnic pride. As understandable as that is, it’s something you have to look at.
Perhaps I can see things a little more objectively in this race precisely because I am NOT at all enthused by John McCain.
Fair coverage?
You mean Sally Quinn claiming that “Sarah Palin should be at home tending to the responsibilities of raising five children, including a special needs child.”
Or NOW’s slams on Palin being broadly trumpeted by the MSM/
Or, much being made of “who wrote Sarah Palin’s speech?” Oddly enough, neither John Kerry, Al Gore or Barack Obama wrote a single speech of their own and yet “who wrote” those speeches is never discussed.
But, by all means, let’s be fair AM.
On experience, BOTH Sarah Palin and Obama were elected to higher office in 2006 and sworn in back in January 2007. Yup, NEITHER of them has much experience in national or higher office.
Before that, BOTH held local offices.
For all of Sarah Palin’s limited experience, she actually has MORE executive experience than ANY of the other three candidates. She ran a small town, as Mayor and a State with offices in Beijing, Taipei and Hong Kong, as Governor.
NONE of the other three (Biden, McCain and Obama) have ANY executive experience at all.
Sarah Palin is not a Washington insider and that makes her far more like ANY working or middle class American than any of the other three.
I disagree with Sarah Palin on abortion, but I am closer to her views than those of NOW.
She opposes ALL abortion on the grounds of the sanctity of life.
I support first trimester abortion, as I’ve said, but vehemently oppose late term abortions, as preemies as young as 21 weeks have survived outside the womb.
I AGREE with Palin that the people of any State should be able to define Marriage any way they want, even though we might disagree on extending benefits to same-sex couples. Those issues pale in comparison to her support for more drilling now and her enthusiasm for cutting government spending.
The MSM’s agenda is far closer to NOW’s than Palin’s and the coverage has been anything but fair, to this point.
In fact, it was Anderson Cooper, who in a rare self-reflective moment for the American media tried to explain the initial savagery over Palin, saying, “The media doesn’t like to be surprised and doesn’t react well to surprises...ultimately ending in the kind of feeding frenzy we’ve seen with Sarah Palin.
Anyone who doesn’t see the wave of personal attacks and the double-standards heaped on Palin as unfair, isn’t really looking at the situation at all fairly themselves, in my view.
"Hey, JMK. Just checking in to get your feed back on Gov. Parlin's speech." (AM)
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I wasn't wowed by her speech, though I thought she did a decent job of introducing herself.
Then again, I had't been wowed by Mario Cuomo's Convention address back in 1988 and I haven't really been wowed by Barack Obama, who is as a good an orator as Bill Clinton, or any Democrat since JFK.
Looking back, JFK was all speech and little substance, so that's a bad comparison for anyone, in my view.
Palin's alright with me. I agree on her on energy and on tax cuts, etc. and of course I LOVE her 2nd Amendment stance.
Mine is even more stout - "You DON'T license a RIGHT."
I know how to make a gun, a decent gun, actually out of plumbing parts and have a schematic on that. I also know how to make homemade but very effective (if unstable) explosives out of dozens of household products.
I've been advised NOT to post such things oe even imbed them in stories, but on the latter, I think there's a lot of gray area.
Suffice to say, I think EVERYONE should be trained and know how to defend themselves.
For those who'd misuse that training? Perhaps targeting law enforcement???
Well, I'd suggest a first class trial, followed by a first rate hanging.
Sarah Palin may not go as far as I do on the 2nd Amendment, but she's the best we've got.
But the speech? Well, at least in my view, the speech as good - a solid B.
By the way, THANKS for all who've engaged in this discussion and those who'll continue to engage in it....I really enjoy and respect the exchange of ideas and opinions and I encourage any and all comments and exchanges so long as they are not demeaning, personal attacks on anyone.
I certainly don't want anyone who disagrees with me attacked and made reluctant to post here, just as much as I don't want those who agree, personally attacked only because of their views. That said, strenuous or vehement disagreement is not the same as a "personal attack," in my view.
We all have emotions and we invest a significant amount of our emotions in the things we believe in, so sometimes it's hard for some of us to be reasonable in disagreement.
I've learned a lot from people I disagree with and I hope that those who disagree never feel unwelcome here.
But MOST OF ALL, I thank all of you, who've made this discussion so lively.
Much appreciated!
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