Fooked they will be.
The DARK SIDE IS SORELY AFRAID.
Posted on 09/30/2008 2:11:15 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
So Sarah Palin's participation in the vice presidential debate is going to be the sparring equivalent of bumper bowling. The McCain camp insisted upon a tightly formatted structure for Palin's debate with Joe Biden, one that is designed to protect her from spontaneous questions and discussion.
Geraldine Ferraro was granted no special protection when she debated George H.W. Bush in 1984, and it is inexplicable why the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates gave in to McCain's demands now. It's hard to call this progress. An experienced, knowledgeable female candidate should not require special treatment.
But Sarah Palin is a female candidate who exists as a token. Nobody except Palin herself believes she is qualified to be vice president, not even McCain and his campaign managers. Palin was put in place to bring in the evangelical right and toss a bone to women voters who might somehow fail to notice that Palin does not support women's issues.
Those who shudder at the thought of Palin being VP should worry even more about her becoming president. This is a very real danger with a 72-year-old president who has a history of cancer.
Here's what we know about Sarah Palin before the debate begins:
1. We know she lies. She said thanks to that "bridge to nowhere" until it became a national embarrassment, and then she kept the designated $223 million from U.S. taxpayers for other uses in her state. She has been corrected many times but continues to lie, in keeping with the Rovian finding that a lie repeated becomes a fact in voters' minds.
2. We know she is under investigation for abuse of power. "Troopergate," in which Palin allegedly fired the Alaska public safety commissioner for refusing to fire a state trooper who is Palin's former brother-in-law, points to a larger chronicled morass of friendship hires, personal vendettas, questionable per diem charges, and the involvement of her husband in policy decisions.
3. We know she is a poor fiscal manager. As mayor she left Wasilla, a town roughly the size of McFarland, around $15 million in debt after building a sports complex.
4. We know her life has been marked by a scant education and apparent incuriosity about the world. She attended five colleges in six years to get a bachelor's degree. (Who does that?) She has barely left the U.S. in her lifetime. Within the United States, Alaska is sparsely populated, has a relatively small range of racial diversity, and is in many ways isolated from the Lower 48, thus limiting even her experience of this country. In the 1980s, greed was good. What's good now, ignorance? Haven't we had enough of that?
5. We know she is no friend to women. She supports abstinence-only sex education (and we see how well that worked for Bristol). She opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest. Along with McCain, she opposes equal pay for equal work.
6. We know her handlers are terrified of what Palin would say to the news media if reporters were allowed unfettered access, to the point where they are denying access that is essential to our democracy. The plan is to get the public to vote for someone we have not been allowed to question. We've talked so much about pigs during this campaign. Ever heard of buying a pig in a poke?
And so we have a female VP candidate who was raised to the White House by powerful conservative men who appreciate her backward views and her beauty queen looks (and her gun-toting, moose-hunting ways; this lends a note of feisty pizzazz). During these long weeks of campaigning, she has been seen much more than heard, a woman whose voice has been either scripted or muzzled. Consider her the Stepford Veep.
But here's the most important thing about Sarah Palin: what selecting her says about John McCain. Choosing Palin to be a heartbeat away from the presidency was irresponsible beyond redemption. McCain's formerly admiring biographer, Elizabeth Drew, now says that "John McCain is not a principled man."
That's obvious.
Who are these freaks? They are so strange that they actually make me be more careful in my comments about Obama because I don't want to be as unfair and unhinged as they are about Palin.
The list of reasons why Palin is so "scary" is just ludicrous. What governor or executive doesn't appoint people they know to positions of power in their cabinet? That's just common sense. Does anyone think that Obama will keep Bush's cabinet members if he's elected?
And do these fools not understand the concept of a ballot initiative that gives citizens the ability to vote on whether or not the city should take out a bond to pay for something that citizens want? That's how the Wasilla sports arena was paid for. The citizens voted on it! We do this all the time in California. Why is it Palin's fault that she completed a sports arena that was the desire of the citizens she represented? The current mayor of the city says the city says that Sarah left the city in excellent financial shape.
And how dare they suggest that a person who hasn't had the opportunity to travel is somehow not interested in the world.
And last but not least, it might interest this dopey columnist that the agreed upon debate format benefits both Biden and Palin because if the voters got to hear Biden ramble on and on, this election would be over.
It was the Biden camp that didn't want them sitting at a table together because they were afraid Biden wouldn't be able to go on the attack.
It's not as if the questions were given to Palin ahead of time. Ifill can ask questions on any topic. And two minutes is plenty of time to get an idea of where a person stands. You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to be succinct and to the point in a two minute answer. Long rambling answers can sometimes give the false impression of the speaker's intelligence.
Joan Fischer: I wish I was Sarah!
No. It's nonsense. See my comments in post #41.
No, because she would enjoy that.
Fooked they will be.
The DARK SIDE IS SORELY AFRAID.
I worked for a while with a real doofus. He had a degree in journalism, although his degree wasn't required for the job. We worked as NY State Correctional Officers. At the time I was attending school at night, working on a degree myself (not in journalism). I was several years older than him and a female. This guy was one of the biggest jerks around. He was always throwing up his journalism degree to everyone else, and no one could stand the buffoon. In one of my English classes I learned that news articles were actually written in grade school format so that the public could digest them. When I heard that, I had to laugh because all this time, this guy thought he was something special.
Diana,
“Nobody except Palin herself believes she is qualified to be vice president...”
Well, if Sarah believes in herself that much then she is as qualified as barrak or joe and she is as qualified as I require.
Liberals think it takes a lawyer to lead a country,
I know it just takes a good sound citizen, at least for the really important stuff, like the Constitution.
Your FRiend.
Tet68.
McCain/Palin 08
In the store the other day I was checking out and 2 people behind me were buying NoBama’s second book. They could not wait to read it, and said he is so detailed in his plans.
I could not help but laugh out loud. They looked at me with death in their eyes. I said details like how he voted against the Iraq War almost 6 years ago when he has not even been in the Senate 3 full years?
I said he reminds me of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in which Charles Durning says a lot but says nothing.
I told them to watch the movie and they would see NoBama.
They blamed Rush for what I believed, As always I am a victim of someone else’s brain and not my own.
Libs: can’t let them be in charge, can’t seem to rid ourselves of them.
Ha - publications for the main stream are written so everyone can digest them - sounds like your journalism student was the ideal candidate for that kind of work.
Jealous much? What a ditz this woman is. Betcha she’s a hag. Sounds awful terrified to me, panic attack about to happen. Happy note......Saw 9 (NINE!) large “I’m Voting For The Chick” signs today within a 10 mile radius of Staunton, Va. !! I hope they have bumper stickers with this on it, ‘cause I’m gonna git me one.
COBOL? You’re dating yourself! ;)
Amen to that! :)
I saw The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas many years ago. I’ll have to rent it and watch it again. Thanks.
It’s not just going to be this election. It’s going to be four or eight years of non-stop derision if we’re lucky.
I think she can take it. And I think she can give it as well as she takes it. :)
The rusty prune needs a ‘high colonic’ ... with straight grain alcohol.
Lesson Learned.
All that was needed to completely gut and mute the so called Women’s Movement was to have a conservative women run for office...and Lib women who lead the movement across the country literally go Ape S__t and attach her for being an uppity woman.
Oh the humor of it all.
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