Can Anyone Defend Palin as Anything But a Gigantic Joke? - Page 2

This guy begs to differ. But then again he is just human. What´s that compared to a moose?

There's no problem in building a sports complex with a loan. There is a problem in doing it and simultaneously calling yourself a small-government fiscal conservative.

Goddamn you, AP, I walked away from the computer for ten minutes, this thread grew like a freak of nature, and you beat me to the catch.

He was only VP for half a year, but I have to believe Teddy Roosevelt has her beat in that category.

"The use of heroin and cocaine sharply declined." So she has War-on-drugs experience as well.

"She implemented a successful drug program that kept the Washington insiders out and the free markets in."

So she found money for a multi-million dollar arena but refuse to find the annual cost of 5-14000$ for rape examinations cause:

TR was only governor for two years at most. FDR was gov for three and TR certainly shot a lot more animals down that Palin ever did.

I'm not sure about that, but the "she left the city in debt" statement seems a bit misleading without context. I would say if they are on schedule to pay the debt early, I don't see the problem. Was the alternative to collect all that cash, sit on it and then buy the complex?

You know, I'm not going to play "move the goal post", I was just answering the "debt" thing. I'm sure you guys can google the rest!

I think when you look at our country, and you see people rally behind people like her just because she's presented and marketed (this follows with a lot of politicians), you get the sense that the people, collectively, crave failure. They want things to bottom out. A death wish, sorta. That's got to be at least part of it.

True. But while the future of America would crumble, we WOULD have our first Cougar in office.

Actually, the alternative was to find a private investor that saw Wasilla as a market that could support a $15M sports facility and built it out of a sincere desire to make a profit. Oh, also to make sure the town owned the land before they built on it.

That's ridiculous. They like her because she represents what they want in a lawmaker. She speaks for millions of people out there, whose social views are aligned with hers.

Yeah, I figured Roosevelt was her main competition in the moose-killing category. I want to see a comparison chart, but, barring the moose-killing distinction, I can't think of anything particularly defensible. At least not without making a case for tokenism.

Are they unable to pay this debt?

Again, I don't know the inner working of Wasilla, but like many things here in FL it seems the residents voted for it and they got what they voted for and are ahead of schedule to pay it back. I don't see what the big deal is here.

Moose (Meese, wth is the plural) hunting? Pft.

I like Matt Taibbi's theory that sort of reconciles your and KM's points. It's low-level narcissism. It's not so much that her supporters want her to fail or want to fail, themselves. It's that they subconsciously perceive the failings in themselves and see how someone has achieved, despite these failings.

They're unsophisticated, perhaps not too well-educated; they may be hard workers, but not when it comes to learning about the world around them. So it's not so much that they want a candidate that's entirely relatable. For a candidate to be entirely relatable, he or she wouldn't be a candidate at all. But they want the successful version of themselves. They want affirmation that their sort of hard work without critical analysis, tolerance, or thoughtfulness can lead to success.

But if you look at the context, the sports center became so expensive because of bad planning. She didn't get her ducks in a row before breaking ground, and the resulting mess is what ended up costing Wasilla so much. I can't remember where I read the history of the project, but it might have been in that Anne Kilkenny letter.

Also, here's a red flag for McCain and his supporters on what she'll most likely do to him if they get elected:

More here.

I'm not going to lie. If I were a far right conservative, I would be in love with this woman, and I would rally behind her.

Experience at this point, is moot. We've had experienced politicians in the White House, and it hasn't exactly been a celebratory administration. What matters now are Supreme Court appointees, and getting in a person who embraces the far right ideals and principles, and will "fight" to see them carried out.

And by fight, that means feeding McCain a poisoned Moose burger and moving her entire brood into the White House.

If the United States wasn't so powerful, that would be fine. The problem is people other than Americans pay the price for American stupidity. The rest of us do not have a vote, but we certainly have a stake in this election.

Look at our little corner of the world. The prefect of Thessaloniki spoke to the press dressed as Zorro during Halloween. We both know how popular he is. For those not in Greece, he was not trying to make a statement.

Now apply this to the good -and equally dumb- people at the other side of the Atlantic.

The big difference is what Seabass is saying above.

The main problem is that political marketeers are setting the bar too low. It's happening over here and it's certainly happening over there with Palin. The question is not whether Palin is a success as a product but whether she is qualified to be in office. She is obviously not.

Hey, if you think you feel powerless, how do you think those of us who live here feel? I voted as hard as I could in the last two elections, and it didn't do a damn bit of good.

How can you not vote for her, she is great at wrangling up hordes of cash for her town.

If only she could generate this kind of revenue nationwide....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/...ams/index.html

We wouldn't have any economic issues.

Go Sarah!!

The best thing about that image is the prominently featured Dow alert.

She did say "Thanks, but no thanks" on the bridge to nowhere. "Thanks" for the money, "no thanks" to the actual bridge. There's one lie down.

Hey if you don't like planet earth, leave it!

Election 2008: Vote Harder

I think this is why I'm so bitter. I didn't use to be so angry and defensive. No matter what the issues are, no matter what's at stake, it doesn't seem to make a bit of difference.

I imagine you feel like me, only more so. Fox and Limbaugh and all that are hard to come by up here. There are far more opportunities to have one's intelligence insulted in the US than here, I believe.

If I could, I would. That's been the case since I was four years old, and it has nothing to do with politics.

I've been pissed for a long time, but now I'm knocking on the door of hopelessnes. I mean, McCain is going to win Louisiana by at least 12 points. Due to the electoral college, my vote will be meaningless.

It's just discouraging.

Election 2008: LIVE FREE OR VOTE HARD

Drew, you could help register voters and volunteer to watch polls in democratic districts. It doesn't sound huge but everything, everything, will make a difference in this election.

I've thankfully have spent my entire life living in blue states. Still, my vote doesn't count.

I do have to wonder though which is worse--living in a state that heavily leans to the left, and still having the elections decided by states such as Ohio, Florida (and probably this year, Michigan), or living in a state that almost always goes against your chosen party affiliation.

Either way, no matter where you live and how your vote, there can only be one winner, and you stand a good chance of not having your vote count regardless.

It's just frustrating that Republicans are better at winning than Democrats. One step forward (Clinton), two step backwards (quite literally, Bush).

I don't want that small, hollow majority win in 2006 to be our one step forward ....

What you did there. I see it.

At least living in a blue state you're (at least in theory) surrounded by relatively like minded people.

In a place like this...Well, let me share this quick story-

In 2004, I go to vote (for Kerry. Wasn't happy about it, but that's how it goes.) then stop by my parents' house. My younger brother is there as well. He asks me who I voted for, so I tell him. His reaction?

He gets up, walks over to me, and quite literally takes a swing at me. As in a punch. Not jokingly, not playfully. A full force punch.

So yeah...that's sort of what I'm dealing with.

Why anyone finds this cunt attractive is far beyond me.

Dude, I'm not gonna lie - she's kinda hot. But I think it was Russ who introduced us to the term "hate fuck," in regards to...was it Elizabeth Hasselback? I think that applies here, as well.

...

83% in a CNN poll supported Charlie Cheen's views on a 9/11 conspiracy, that is why McPalin is likely to win.

What's weird is that given her failings despite all the coaching and pampering and undue protection, that's she's still somehow considered "so impressive" my the MSM. [edit] If the MSM was as honest about Palin as, say, Sullivan I think we'd see a different story out there. [/edit]

(golf clap for Matchstick)

It is not a joke. Jokes are supposed to be funny.

What really bothers me is that very few people take the time to think about how this reflects upon McCain. He's been extolling his own experience and judgment, and now comes this Palin pick.

It is possibly the single most calculated move of the entire campaign. It goes for the female voters who are bitter about Hillary and who are either racist enough or insufficiently informed to ignore the rigid pro-choice platform. It unifies the evangelical base of the party, which the Republicans have been moving towards since the 2000 election, at the expense of the moderate, independent voters that McCain previously attracted. It is designed to beat Obama at his own game -- having a political celebrity as the face of your campaign, with no focus given at all to actual qualifications. And the MILF-next-door exterior serves as a perfect distraction for any serious analysis or questioning. It is the best (and potentially the most disastrous) example of choosing style over substance I have seen.

McCain has been selling out his principles for votes during this election year, that much is clear. The cynicism of the Palin choice is merely the icing on the cake. But the complete lack of underlying reasoning for the pick is staggering -- this is a woman he met once, who was plucked from relative obscurity after a vetting that seemingly amounted to no more than reading her Wikipedia entry. For a man who prides himself on being a maverick, it is either the action of an impulsive gambler with nothing left to lose (the worst kind of gambler there is), OR of someone who is following orders from the marketing department. It is reckless, it is irresponsible, and it casts serious doubt on his abilities to lead a nation. And it sure as hell isn't funny.

Fixed that for ya.

Who the fuck cares whether or not it was a good political maneuver? The fact that it was possibly a brilliant strategic move means nothing in and of itself. When you consider what that strategy is, namely sacrificing the integrity, responsibility and security of our nation in order to appeal to epidemic myopia and ignorance in the electorate then you're left with a rather disgusting and foolish strategy. Sure, if McCain wins the strategy will have been successful in one sense, but in the sense that is important to everyone other than John McCain and Sarah Palin it will be potentially disastrous.

As someone who doesnt want either McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden in the White House, I would like to ask all the anti-Palin (and therefore I can only assume pro-Obama folks a question:

Is it just her experience (or lack thereof) that does it to you? If thats the case, does it matter that Obama was only in the Senate for 767 days before he announced his run for President, compared to Palin being a governer for 634 days? Does 4 months make the difference between experienced and not experienced enough?

She didnt interview well with Charlie Gibson? The same could be argued regarding Obama vs O'Reilly.

She uses a teleprompter? That ones just way too easy.

Im not trying to enrage any of the pro-Obama folk here, but Im very curious.

I speak only for myself here, but the fact that she was chosen specifically to steal the "Hillary" voters is what sickens me most. McCain could have chosen countless other women WAY more qualified and he picks this hack who looks like Tina Fey's older, crankier sister? Fuck that. It's the utter slimy nature of the pick that gets at my craw, not her experience or lack of it.

I couldn't care less about experience. For me it's all about vision, goals and strategies to achieve these. Those three items really have nothing to do with experience. The ideas of young graduate student on macro economics might very well trump those of one who has been sitting in a Washington office most of his/hers entire life or that of a whole administration. I'm not speaking of either candidate here, just saying experience doesn't really matter that much to me personally.

The things that scare me about Palin has mostly to do with personality traits that have been uncovered throughout the last 4 weeks and that make up a picture of someone I would never trust to hold one of the most powerful positions of the planet. They might not all be true, but if even a small portion are, then I'm not willing to take that chance.