The first blog I posted had to do with McCain's choice of Sarah "I Kill for Fun" Palin. It was written the day of the announcement, well before Palin was vetted -- something McCain clearly didn't do. Now, we've all seen what poor judgment McCain exercised in the most important decision he could make in his campaign.
Now, he has propelled this guy, "Bob the Builder" as I'll call him, into the national spotlight to attack Obama. You all know who I'm talking about, but I can't bring myself to use the generally accepted nickname -- which lies about his occupation.
I briefly thought that this guy must have been a McCain plant to trap Obama with his now proven false claims (not a licensed plumber, not intending to buy a business as he claimed). Then, I thought he couldn't be a McCain plant because he's turned out to be such an embarrasment. Yet, McCain's campaign is still using that guy -- and multiple variations -- on the stump.
But then I come back to Palin. McCain chose her, and look at what she has shown herself to be under that pretty face of hers. "Bob the Builder" is no better. He is now using his 15 minutes of infamy to try to land book and record deals. Watch for a TV movie now that "Bob" has hired a publicist.
These two things should give everyone great pause. Why? McCain chose these two people. Who would he choose for cabinet posts? Supreme Court seats? Advisors? Will it be new, unvetted people, or the old RNC guard -- if any remain? Neither is an acceptable choice to me.
McCain does not have what it takes to be president. He has shown himself to be:
The prospect of a McCain / Palin administration terrifies me. If by some act of evil they should win, I will seriously consider returning to the land of my ancestors: Holland!
VOTE * VOTE * VOTE * VOTE * VOTE * VOTE * VOTE * VOTE * VOTE * VOTE * VOTE* VOTE * VOTE
My sister sent this e-mail today describing why she supports Obama and opposes McCain. I think it is thorough and succinct enough to share it with everyone.
- "Knock, knock."
- "Who's there?"
- "Sarah Palin"
(horrifyingly, that's the punchline)
I received a request from a fellow member of my catholic church to participate in the following effort of the AFA to poll their own to question the qualifications of our esteemed candidate (whom we chose through a democratic process) in a bogus response to an open poll from PBS Now concerning the qualifications of Sarah Palin (who was chosen by one man in one day after one meeting).
I encourage all to weigh in on both polls but be warned that the AFA poll will add your email address to their mailing list ...(and who knows whether or how they actually count votes in favor of Obama ...)
I'd be interested if you'd post back your experiences if you do vote in either poll.
I watched the debate live two evenings ago, as did 70 million other Americans. It was a fascinating event on every level: Seeing if Palin could hold her own, watching Biden and Palin interact, listening to the information presented, hoping for hard-hitting questions from Gwen Ifill.
I'm now watching the debate literally a second time --- this moment, as it is re-running on MSNBC --- and I'm seeing a whole lot of stuff I missed the first time.
Joe Biden:
A highly intelligent, well spoken man who has devoted his life to making our country a safer and more prosperous place for us to live. He would make a wonderful Vice President, and God forbid it became necessary, he would make a wonderful President as well. A statesman on every level.
Sarah Palin:
The Governor's method of speaking, as well as the content delivered to us, was simply beyond the pale. The dozens upon dozens of annoying folkisms aside, Governor Palin talked mostly in a rapid-fire, staccato method of speaking that sounded robotic and often difficult to understand. Memorized? Most, or all of it, for sure. But then add in the cutesy, sarcastic digs to Senators Biden and Obama, the winking, the promising her brother's students extra credit for watching, the recognition of her dad in the audience, the endless qualification references to being a business owner and a mayor in Alaska, and the multiple mentions of her husband Todd, I clearly have the sense she cared less about the country than getting her cues right, saying the stuff she was TOLD to say, invoking John McCain's name as often as possible, and showing her interest in POWER and ADVANCEMENT at every turn.
Her performance was COMPLETELY UNPROFESSIONAL to me. At times Palin sunk to flirting outrageously with the camera, at times she was downright rude to Senator Biden, and her comments on several matters felt utterly disingenuous. Sarah Palin LOVES THE STATE OF ISRAEL? Really? Could she even point to where the country is located on a world map?
In this blog I've tended to share my first impressions. But if I've been particularly harsh I've tried to go back and take a second look with a more open mind.
I do think Palin is well-suited to her role as local politician in Alaska, whether I personally agree with her policies and methods of governing, or not. But she has no business wasting our time on the national stage. None, whatsoever.
Here are two things I was surprised to read about the GOP VP candidate in comparison to Obama.
Obama is a U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, but people refer to him as "untested". While Sarah Palin, who can potentially be a heart beat away from the presidency, has been mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, and those same people aren't concerned with her qualifications.
Sarah Palin attended four different colleges in six years (one of which she basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college) and no one question her intelligence or commitment to achievement. Whereas if Obama had that same history (or quite possibly any person of color) they would be viewed as unfit for college (and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action).
Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford Law Professor who writes extensively on technology law, challenges Palin’s claim that her experience is similar to other vice presidents in history. In a 12 minute video, he reviews the experience of each of the nation’s 46 vice presidents, and can find only two who have the same or less.
He points out that about 20% of vice presidents, have become presidents through the death, resignation or incapacitation of the President. (You may remember Barack’s convention speech, in which he pointed out that since McCain has voted with President Bush 90% of the time, the country has only a 10% chance of getting change of it elects McCain. History tells us we have a better chance of McCain being succeeded in office by Palin, than we have of getting change from McCain/Palin.) At 72, John McCain will be the oldest man ever to assume a first-term as President. He spent five-and-a-half years in captivity, was deprived of food, and was horribly tortured. In addition, he has suffered several episodes of recurrent malignant melanoma, the most deadly skin cancer. Despite his good genetic heritage, his age and this toxic combination of factors may make it even more likely his vice president would succeed him.
At a time when our nation teeters on the edge of a financial abyss, is certain to face a recession, is fighting two wars and is faced with a warming planet, this is no time to take on even more risk with Palin.
Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hnrZrlxjI0
Q. What's worse than 1 duped dope (Bush was a C student) in the White House?
A. 2 duped dopes (McCain - 894th out of 899 in US Naval Academy, Palin - D in macro-economics).
We need an intelligent president to deal with the mess were in (Obama - Suma Cum Laude, Harvard)
Duped dopes make trillion dollar mistakes.
Obama College Background :
Occidental College - two years.Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in Int’l Relations.Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude (top 1% of entire class!)
Biden College Background :
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
United States Naval Academy - class rank 893 out of 898.
Palin College Background :
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semesterNorth Idaho College - 2 semesters - general studyUniversity of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalismMatanuska-Susitna College - 1 semesterUniversity of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism
Thanks to http://news.spreadit.org/palin-collegesarah-palin-college-background/
Here we have a person who has been governor of the most culturally isolated state in the union for 20 months, a state with the population of San Francisco and a state whose economy is solely based on natural gas, oil, and federal dollars. She is extremely socially conservative, and she HAD TO GET A PASSPORT IN 2007 to visit the Alaskan National Guard troops in Kuwait - apparently she also visited guardsmen in Germany and had a stopover in Ireland as well. I find there is no way for me to research her background, advisors, management style, policies, etc. because there are no independent sources that have credibility with me (I don't have enough time reading Alaska newspapers to have a credibility rating on them, and I have used no television sources in my evaluations as I find my research more throrough than theirs). I am outraged that John McCain says she is ready day one in the same breath that he says he cares deeply about this country. Anyone who spouts the party line that she is ready day 1 and more experienced than Obama will lose all credibility with me. Maybe we should start a website to keep a list of these folks for future reference.
Analogies I like:
Matt Damon (paraphrased): This is like a bad Disney movie, hockey mom from Alaska, takes husband and 5 kids to Washington, becomes president. (note: Disney would include a pregnant daughter because the conservative right would boycott).
Mine: This is like taking a gas station manager and promoting them to CEO of Chevron.
Disclaimer:
First, since this is my first blog post here and also considering the fact that this blog exist within the Obama campaign's website I first want to start with a disclaimer. My words are my own, the Obama campaign has no control over what I write here nor should they be required to monitor what I write.
Also, they may throw me under the bus anytime they wish. I speak only for myself, good or bad, right or wrong.
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Qualifications matter. I am a partisan and I am a progressive but I write these comments as simply a citizen of this country and as a citizen I am truly and deathly scared for my country. McCain picked Palin not for qualifications but for purely sexist, political reasons, it also doesn't hurt that she shares the extremist views of the fringe of the conservative party. Let me be as clear as I can when I say that Sarah Palin is NOT qualified to be Vice President of the United States, the most important qualifications of which are the same as the qualifications to be President. You could easily find any number of people, perhaps living right next door that are every bit as qualified as Sarah Palin. That's right, she is no more qualified than your neighbor. Comparing her qualifications to Obama's is absurd on its face and does not deserve the dignity of any further explanation. The mainstream media has shirked their journalistic integrity and their duty by once again allowing themselves to be brow-beaten by the same tired old accusations of "librul" and "elite." The duty of the fourth estate is not to its shareholders, or its detractors, but to the people of this country. John McCain has shown contempt for the citizens of this country by choosing Palin. McCain's choice is a purely political pick that shows that he will do anything to win, including, possibly handing this country over to a inexperienced neophyte, let the consequences be damned. What does that say about his judgment? What does that say about his honor? John McCain supposedly loves his country but I have to ask if someone who loves his country would even allow for the possibility that someone so inexperienced could end up in charge of her? Qualifications matter, and McCain has tipped his hand as to his own qualifications to be president. Anyone who could choose Sarah Palin for vice president, by extension could not be qualified to be president themselves.
McCain's and Palin's RNC acceptance speeches have shed some light on the Republicans' election strategy. In the coming weeks, amid a flurry of swiftboating tactics from plausibly deniable third-parties "unconnected" to McCain, we will witness an attempt to put on a good cop/bad cop performance, with McCain cast as the dignified statesman and Palin as the conservative firebrand pit-bull (her term, not mine...). Saber-rattling over abortion and creationism will galvanize some on the religious right, but it won't win the election.
We have, however, something else to fear, something of even less substance but that strikes deeper into the heart of the American electorate. The "hockey-mom" routine, as silly as it seems, is a clear indication that the McCain team are going to paint themselves as "more like you" than Obama and Biden. in the coming weeks the McCain camp will barrage America with the same message over and over again: we aren't smooth-talking lawyers, we aren't fancy Harvard educated elitists, we're folks just like you.
Unfortunately, they will get some mileage out of this. Now, this may anger some people, but the fact is that come election time we Americans love nothing better than to be told how wonderful we are. We are a great nation. The average American is painted as outstandingly brave and honest and hardworking and unselfish (How can we ALL be outstanding? What exactly do we stand out from? Cowardly lazy selfish foreigners, presumably...). The more a candidate praises us, the higher his/her popularity soars. Hence we are treated to Sarah Palin talking about the great state of Alaska (So which are the not-great states? Delaware? Hawaii? Rhode Island never seemed that great to me, it's so damned small.) From this near-masturbatory celebration of ourselves it is easy to proceed logically to the conclusion that the best cadidate for higher office must look just like this superhuman "average American." Palin is just an ordinary hockey mom - hey I'm a hockey mom too, so yeah, she'd make a great vice-president. Sure, why not?
The absurdity is obvious. if you needed brain surgery, would you be tempted to vet your brain surgeon to be sure he/she was someone "just like you"? Personally I'd hope my brain surgeon was a hell of a lot smarter than I am. Someone whose intellect and judgement I could trust rather than someone who shares my religion or my enthusiasm for ice hockey. Unfortunately in politics a lot of Americans want their candidates to look just like them. The Republicans will use Palin in particular to pander to this sort of narcissistic nonsense. Obama is an extraordinary man. He is extremely well-educated, and was editor of the Harvard Law Review. In a sane world this would be to his credit. But no, this will be used against him. Graduating at the top of his class from the best law school in the country means he isn't your average guy. Neither is Joe Biden for that matter. Unless you are pretty extraordinary, they're not just like you. They're smarter. They know more about law and policy than you do, and are probably better able to muster the intellectual resources of those around them to analyze complex problems than you are. And no offense but maybe, just maybe, that's a good thing.
The Republicans, particularly in the VP debates, will attempt to portray Obama and Biden as slick overeducated lawyers, as not being folks just like you. I don't have any answers, but how the campaign responds to this line of non-reasoning will be crucial in the weeks and months ahead. Does it mean that Obama needs to suddenly take an interest in bowling? Should he confess to having gone to Harvard but plead that he spent most of his time shooting spitballs at Alan Dershowitz and wondering why all these lawyers can't just get by with straight talkin' like the rest of us? Heaven preserve us.
Interesting piece from Michael Kinsley in Slate magazine:
It seems like just yesterday that the Republican Party was complaining about Barack Obama's lack of foreign-policy "experience." As a matter of fact, as I write (on Friday, Aug. 29) it actually was just yesterday. Even now, the Republican National Committee's main anti-Obama website has the witty address www.notready08.com. The contrast in experience, especially foreign-policy experience, between McCain and Obama was supposed to be the central focus of McCain's campaign.But that's so five minutes ago, before Sarah Palin. Already, conservative pundits are coming up with creative explanations for McCain's choice of a vice presidential running mate with essentially no foreign policy experience. First prize so far goes to Michael Barone, who notes on the U.S. News & World Report blog that, "Alaska is the only state with a border with Russia. And it is the only state with territory, in the Aleutian Islands, occupied by the enemy in World War II." I think we need to know what Sarah Palin has done, in her year and change as governor of Alaska, to protect the freedom of the Aleutian Islands, before deciding how many foreign policy experience credits she deserves on their account.The official response to the question of experience emerged within hours and is only slightly more plausible: She may not have foreign policy experience, but -unlike Obama, Joe Biden or even John McCain-she has had executive experience. Why, before her stint as governor of Alaska, population 670,000, she was mayor of a town of 9,000. Remember when the Republicans mocked Bill Clinton for being governor of a "small state"? That would be Arkansas, population 2.8 million. As it happens, 670,000 is the population of metropolitan Little Rock.
It seems like just yesterday that the Republican Party was complaining about Barack Obama's lack of foreign-policy "experience." As a matter of fact, as I write (on Friday, Aug. 29) it actually was just yesterday. Even now, the Republican National Committee's main anti-Obama website has the witty address www.notready08.com. The contrast in experience, especially foreign-policy experience, between McCain and Obama was supposed to be the central focus of McCain's campaign.
But that's so five minutes ago, before Sarah Palin. Already, conservative pundits are coming up with creative explanations for McCain's choice of a vice presidential running mate with essentially no foreign policy experience. First prize so far goes to Michael Barone, who notes on the U.S. News & World Report blog that, "Alaska is the only state with a border with Russia. And it is the only state with territory, in the Aleutian Islands, occupied by the enemy in World War II." I think we need to know what Sarah Palin has done, in her year and change as governor of Alaska, to protect the freedom of the Aleutian Islands, before deciding how many foreign policy experience credits she deserves on their account.
The official response to the question of experience emerged within hours and is only slightly more plausible: She may not have foreign policy experience, but -unlike Obama, Joe Biden or even John McCain-she has had executive experience. Why, before her stint as governor of Alaska, population 670,000, she was mayor of a town of 9,000. Remember when the Republicans mocked Bill Clinton for being governor of a "small state"? That would be Arkansas, population 2.8 million. As it happens, 670,000 is the population of metropolitan Little Rock.
Thank you, Senator McCain, for choosing what's-er-name as your running mate. You have just rendered impotent your past accusations against Obama regarding experience, or lack thereof. I can't wait until the media (except Fox News) gets hold of your first mere allusion to Obama as inexperienced now. John, dude, what were you thinking? You really should step outside of your conclave once in a while.
Contrary to what you must have been "thinking", as you rabidly chase disenfranchised Hillary supporters, your choice of this particular woman will not draw them to you. Rather, it will drive the majority of them, and virtually every undecided woman, into the Obama camp. Frankly, Senator, I don't think you give the Hillary supporters enough credit to be able to recognize that your mis-guided choice was based solely on your desire to win the Presidency. Clearly, it was not based on who would be the best VP or president, if necessary. Once again, your disdain for the "common" man comes through. The masses are a bunch of uneducated, illiterate, ignorant fools who just don't "get it". Well, Senator, we get it.
What's truly unbelievable is that you don't seem to recognize what a poor choice you made in Palin. She is not ready to be president, should the unfortunate happen and you take ill. In these troubled times, our country cannot be led by someone with VERY LIMITED STATE EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE, NO NATIONAL EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE, and NO INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE. I have not had the time to personally vet Palin, but the hair on the back of my neck stood up when I read that she was from oil-rich Alaska...and is the keeper of fragile, and ecologically vital, Prudhoe Bay. Although it was written that she particpated in the passage of a tax bill unfavorable to the oil companies operating in Alaska, it merely enriched her state. She knows that, now, the more drilling she authorizes, the more money her state will make. No conflict of interest there. At a time when the VAST majority of us are concerned about the environmental effects of fossil fuels, the exorbitant and increasing cost of fuel, and our current dependence upon oil from unstable nations that generally despise US, the last thing we need to do is enable our forced dependence by continuing to chase oil, at home or abroad. It is a dead industry, and one whose sustentation is literally killing us.
In conclusion, I am going to say something that I’ve never heard anyone say. I will come across as cold, but I'm not. What I AM, is brutally honest.
Everyone bows to Senator McCain’s military service and imprisonment. I support veterans quite vehemently. HOWEVER, when I look at McCain's story, here’s what I see: A soldier so inept that, after only 2 hours of combat duty, he was captured by the enemy. He did not volunteer for POW duty, so it is not a character asset, as so many would like to portray. I credit him for surviving the ordeal, but survival is simply the most primal, basic human instinct. It is not a display of strength of character, or of wisdom, or of patriotism. (Hate mail may be directed to yourselves.)
P.S. If you’re in Nevada, look out. You may be getting a call from me on Sunday, Aug. 24th. For the first time, I am compelled to personal political action. And who’s responsible for that? Senator Barack Obama!
Today is Barack Obama's 47th birthday. He shares the same birthdate as Louis Armstrong, Helen Thomas, Billy Bob Thornton, Roger Clemens, and Percy Shelley.
Much has been made about Obama's youth, and I've joked about how much I love to hear that, being just nine days older than he is. In 1908, an American man could expect to live just 49.5 years. Had they lived a century ago, Barack Obama would likely have been nearing the end of his life and John McCain would've been dead for decades. It's only now, as average life expectancy nears 80, that Obama is considered to be barely middle aged. But as he closes in on the half-century mark, Obama has had plenty of time to gain wisdom and perspective.
