Did ya see it?
I could comment, but this says it far better than I ever could. That's the Republican Party in a nutshell.
Oh, and did you catch a glimpse of Cowboy Troy on stage after the speech? I was a bit aghast to see a black man up there entertaining for the white folk. . but he had a cowboy hat on, which must've eased their fears.
McCain/Palin: far more right-wing than even Bush/Cheney.
3 comments:
From my niece, Stephanie:
While I agree that politicians’ children should be off-limits, we all know that they aren't. I think it was horribly irresponsible (or maybe just thoughtless) of Palin to accept this post knowing that her daughter was pregnant. The reaction of the press was totally predictable. People have refused the role for less important reasons than the welfare of family. What an awful thing to do to the girl.
I agree that the vetting process was truncated at least, if not completely skipped. One political analyst said that if McCain had vetted Palin, they would never have been able to keep it under wraps, because Alaska is just too small a community to keep that kind of secret. Good point.
On the first day following the announcement, every analyst I heard was saying that this was a move to draw in the disenfranchised Hillary supporters. I thought they were high. The ONLY thing Palin and Clinton have in common is a second X chromosome. A Hillary supporter would have to care about NOTHING but getting a woman in the White House in order to be sucked in by Palin. Not likely. I think this was more about getting the Christian crazies pumped up, and apparently it's worked. Hell, I figure she won over most of the women in Texas and Louisiana because they can relate to her Big Hair.
Palin is SO not ready to take the reins if something should happen to McCain--a man who is the oldest first-term candidate ever. Our country is in such a huge mess, I’m amazed that anybody wants the job at all. The Republicans are trying to tell us that her (LESS than) two years of experience as a governor and her stint as a mayor of a town of about 7,000 trumps Obama's four years in the Senate because it is "executive" experience. Well, shoot fire! I‘m impressed! Battle Ground is a bigger town than Wasilla--perhaps Bill should have thrown his hat in the ring. Obama managed to defeat Clinton, Edwards (before the affair was public) and Bill Richardson in a vigorous primary. The voters seem to think that his lack of experience is offset by other, more important qualities.
Might I add that W’s experience as governor of Texas has been no particular benefit to the nation.
So okay, Palin bucked the old boy system in Alaska, and I can respect that. But challenges? She's got a huge budget surplus and few residents, which has allowed her to send a $1200 check to every resident to offset rising fuel costs. Not hard to be popular in that situation. According to the NYT, Palin hasn't hesitated to suggest that her opponents are in the pockets of Big Oil, which has apparently been a very effective method of control. Yet, her oil tax overhaul has linked state payments to oil companies' net profits rather than gross revenue, which would tie the state economy even more closely to the ups and downs of the oil market. That's a big risk for a state that depends hugely on fuel to (ahem) fuel its economy. Moreover, it seems to benefit Big Oil. Hmm.
Per the Washington Post: "In regards to a proposed natural-gas pipeline she said, 'I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built.'" Seriously?! I think God has better things to do than worry about building gas pipelines in Alaska. In fact, I suspect that God's a bit peeved by what our oil use has done to His creation. And Palin opposed endangered status for polar bears because she feared that it would get in the way of opening up more public lands to oil exploration. And in 2006 she said, "explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support." Well, I guess we can see the wisdom and effectiveness of abstinence-only programs (right there on the convention stage). Good choice, Sarah. Oh, I forgot! She's against choice.
Palin is just about the perfect negative image of everything I believe in. No thank you.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to vent--and to study up on Palin in the process.
Stephanie
I'm reminded of the old Frank Capra movie "Meet John Doe," in which a corrupt power-broker finds a very mallable "every man" living on the streets (this is Depression-era America) and takes him to the big city, where the media and the public hold him up as a regular guy who can represent them against big-business and big-government. John Doe becomes a national sensation--there are "John Doe" clubs set up across the land--and only later when Doe attempts to assert himself about his own beliefs does he discover that he's just been a pawn in the game.
That's how I feel about Palin--and about McCain, as well. They're just bit-actors for the large Republican Machine. McCain came in as the Maverick he once was, but in order to placate the base had to down down that act.Palin come in as largely a blank slate, one with no real "Background" to campaign against, uses her "Hockey Mom/Pit Bull" persona to become the mud-slinger and hate/fear-monger on the ticket, etc.
Isn't it funny how the GOP is saying "hands off the family!" and "Leave them Alone" but has no problem with trotting them out on stage and putting them all nicely shined-up and made-over in the audience.
Aaah come on Blair...even you have to admit she's not bad on the eye...something this con-pain really needs.
In all honesty, all four of those idiots do not deserve a single vote and they aren't getting mine.
I'm voting the "L" party for president. Wasting my vote on the Barr/Root ticket? No bigger waste than O-Biden or John-boy and Ms Disfunctional. At least I'm casting a vote for something other the trying to figure out which of those goons is the lesser of the evils.
Demos and Republicans are the same Blair...it's just that they hide their coruption under different smoke screens.
Martin Burwash
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