Vice-President Picks

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I think you missed the point. Which was that when talking up Sarah Palin, Rove said she was mayor of the 2nd largest city in Alaska. When talking down Tim Kane last month, he pointed out that he was only governor for three years and was only mayor of the 105th largest city in America.

They're making fun of Rove, not Palin.

 

Yup.

 

Well, here's my 2 cents on the Palin issue. Just to get it out of the way, I find her easy on the eyes However, that doesn't qualify her for one of the most powerful positions in the free world. On the other hand, it doesn't disqualify her, either.

She has a daughter who is pregnant outside of wedlock. IMHO no American conservative can seriously complain if the liberals go after this, given the attitude conservatives have on social matters such as these. However, the fact that Palin and her family appear to be dealing with the issue in a typically conservative manner (having the baby instead of adoption, encouraging matrimony) is something they should trumpet if they face criticism.

She's had some scandals. Well, she should expect some backlash there, but it's not like Slick Willy didn't have his fair share, and the libs were willing to overlook those. I guess how stridently you attack someone for their sins is directly related to where you stand on their stated positions.

She's a woman. This is not a problem for me, and it does take the wind out of the sails of libs who try to claim that the Republicans hate all women and that the Democratic party is the only party that cares about or advocates women. Palin just represents a different kind of woman than the libs like.

She was an unknown. This is not necessarily bad, but also not necessarily good. I want to see what she has to say before I slag or laud her too much. Certainly her stated political views make it more likely that I will like her.

 

Overlook is a strong word. Aside from the fact that those scandals very nearly destroyed his primary bid, it should be pointed out that Clinton, unlike Palin, wasn't currently under investigation for anything.

Actually, it comes down to where they stand on their stated positions. Had Clinton been a "family values" politician, he would have been eaten alive for his sex scandals not because the Democrats disagree with his position, but because they don't like hypocrites.

None of the other Clinton "scandals" can even be taken seriously. At the time he ran for president, the Clintons had already been investigated for Whitewater, and even after the republican congress squandered in excess of 80 million dollars re-investigating them, the only wrongdoing on the part of the Clintons that turned up was the fact that the Clintons took tax deductions in 1984 and 1985 for loan payments that the McDougals actually had paid, a fact that was already known before the investigation was started since the Clintons made up for the deductions in 1993 by paying back taxes to the IRS. Whitewater was a non-scandal.

Of course, there's always Troopergate, right? The allegations by Larry Patterson and Roger Perry were first reported by David Brock in the American Spectator in 1993. The troopers were discovered to have been paid for their stories and Brock later admitted journalistic dishonesty and apologized. Troopergate, too, was a non-scandal.

I've been noticing a lot of mis-characterizations rolling around about the "liberal take" on the Clinton administration has been. It seems lost on some conservatives that most liberals wanted Clinton to be censured for his actions. MoveOn, after all, got it's start pushing for exactly that. Democrats didn't "overlook" the Clinton sex scandals. They merely put them in the proper perspective, arguing that Clinton should be censured, but that an impeachment would be a waste of time and a distraction from the business of actually running the country. I'm sure they are out there, but I have yet to hear from a liberal who doesn't think that Clinton should have been censured for lying under oath about his blowjob.

 

The entire babble about Palin being oh so qualified is about political naratives. Peggy Noonan said it best: "The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bull**** about narratives --" That was when she had been asked if Sarah Palin is the most qualified woman Republican the McCain camp could have found. The lady knows what she's talking about.

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Watching Sarah Palin's speech had a strange fascination, like watching red meat being thrown to the lions. She received much louder cheers than McCain in his acceptance speech. It's a little scary to think that this woman who wants to drill in the National Wildlife Refuge, loves aerial hunting of wolves and bears, and took $23,000,000 in earmarks--what a reformer!-- for her very small town might be our next Vice-President.

A number of delegates at the GOP convention--and I believe a couple of Fox News commentators too--asserted that Gov. Palin had foreign policy experience because Alaska is adjacent to Russia. This is like suggesting that someone is an expert on asphalt because there's a paved road in front of his house.

 

Well, the foreign policy and military leadership experience stuff was pretty much bull. As for drilling in the National Wildlife Refuge, hunting of wolves and bears, and taking earmarks - it sounds unnervingly familiar. Remember who the current Vice-President is? Of course, to her credit Palin doesn't look like a Sith Lord

The strangest part is that McCain is supposedly a candidate of change, as mentioned quite a few times by the speakers. But what kind of change? In the last few years, it is hard to remember 3 things on total on which he has a different opinion of Bush.

 

Shaman - Are looking for change? Don't count on it anytime soon. Lookie who is "programming" the next Bushman clone:

The Bushies come to Palin's "aid:"

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stum...ies-come-to-palin-s-rescue.aspx?tid=relatedcl

 

Here's a slightly tangental subject about the VPs - I'd like to bring up a discussion about how the entire Republican party is saying that Palin is being attacked by the media. In some cases I think it is a legitimate complaint. For example, I don't really care that Palin's daughter is pregnant. Both Obama and Biden have said family should be off limits, and the wall-to-wall coverage of Bristol and her hillbilly boyfriend doesn't serve much of a point. I will also readily concede that Palin's husband receiving a DUI two decades ago also has nothing to do with the campaign. I also don't care that Palin approves of hunting (even if it is done with the aid of a plane or helicopter) and that she like moose burgers. Nothing of this has anything to do with her qualifications to be VP.

However, because the media chose to cover the more ridiculous stories of the election, now any questioning of Palin's record is decried as an attack. She claims to have military experience as governor of Alaska, as one of the jobs of the governor is control of the Alaska Natoinal Guard. One reporter said he could not find any record of Palin actually giving the Guard any orders since she has been governor. This was also shouted down as an attack, but to me that is a valid question to ask. Palin is claiming this as part of her experience, thereby making relevant to the election. Similarly, there has been some questioning if Palin really is as anti-pork barrel as she claims to be. There is some evidence that Palin was FOR the bridge to nowhere before she was against it, and Alaska has received considerble earmarks in the last two years from the federal government. Again, because Palin herself brought this up as a topic to show what a great VP she'd make, it is very relevant to the election.

Finally, I think BTA brings up an excellent point regarding earmarks - if you're a governor who gets your state a lot of earmarks that will make you extremely popular with the constituency in your state. When people complain about earmarks they are complaining that OTHER states receive earmarks.

 

And yet you take a stab yourself -- he's a teenage kid, the center on the hockey team (equivalent to the quarterback on the football team). Seriously, how often do you hear about the star athlete getting his girlfriend pregnant? Is it really just a "hillbilly" thing? I don't think so.

I actually agree with you. Her policies and professional career should be valid topics. Her stance on important issues from gun control to abortion to fighting corruption should be open to discussion.

 

I'm pretty sure that Aldeth's hillbilly reference was about geography; not about teen pregnancy.

 

Which is almost worse. Everyone knows if you don't come from an elitist city, you shouldn't matter.

 

Drew, from Wikipedia (not always the best source, but often a reasonable place to start):

The reference is not very applicable if referring to geography in this case (it applies to the Ozarks, Appalacians, and/or Alabama -- not Alaska). It is a duragoratory term used to imply ignorance in most cases.

I don't think there is enough known about the kid to jump to such a negative conclusion.

 

OR....we could wait for Aldeth to explain what he meant?

 

I didn't mean to call him a hillbilly - my bad. I meant to call him a redneck. This is not because he happened to get his girlfriend pregnant or is the captain of his hockey team, or because he lives in a rural location. No - I'm calling him that because that is how he references himself - in his self description on his MySpace page, in which he also ironically indicates that he doesn't want any kids:

Want the article instead? Here you go. It's not me taking a shot at the redneck - it's how he refers to himself in his profanity laced description. Seems like a real upstanding kid though.

 

Aldeth - Yes, it appears you insulted all the hillbillies out there in your reference to Johnston. Given the sudden celebrity status of "The Palins," (and their new reality TV show, "the national election") maybe Johnston will leave Bristol for Brittany before it's all over. They just might deserve each other.

 

Redneck is quite acceptable. I know many people who affectionately refer to themselves as rednecks.

Thanks Aldeth.

 

I wonder when the shotgun wedding will take place? I find this entire teen pregnancy thing kinda amusing. If it was Biden's or Obama's teenage daughter who was pregnat can you imagine what the conservatives would be saying? Wow, the attacks would be relentless and you can bet they would seriously question whether they could govern a country if they can't even govern their own daughter. Heck, I can come out and say it: what your children do mirrors yourself. When your child make a mistake you have failed especially if they are as young as she is. This of course wouldn't matter if Palin wasn't running for VP but as has been shown time and tmie again politicians are held to a different standard than average people. Especially conservatives who are generally oh so fast to condemn others for their faults.

 

If anyone is wondering what all the hoopla is about regarding Palin's family, jaoquin pretty much just nailed it.