I was one of those people who were torn on which 2008 presidential candidate to support. Then John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his VP. After doing some research and finding that Palin is a nasty, vindictive, racist hypocrite, I've decided that the McCain ticket isn't for me. I hope my blog will help you to come to a similar conclusion.
President Peres of Israel yesterday met for the first time with Governor Palin and with Senator McCain, who called the veteran Israeli statesman "my old friend." The warm handshake and exchange of broad smiles occurred during an international gathering known as the Clinton Global Initiative, hosted by President Clinton. "I wanted to meet you for many years," Ms. Palin told Mr. Peres, according to an aide to the president. "The only flag at my office is an Israeli flag," she was quoted as saying, "and I want you to know and I want Israelis to know that I am a friend."
I've finally figured out what it is about Sarah Palin that sooo grates me and gets under my skin. She responds to questions from interviewers as if she's a beauty contestant in a Miss America pageant, and she doesn't expect to be challenged on the shallow answers she gives.
Examples:
1) Interview with Charlie Gibson, September 11, after it became obvious that she didn't know what the "Bush Doctrine" is:
"I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership, and that's the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better."
2) Interview with Charlie Gibson...when he asks her about her foreign policy experience and how that could help with the situation between Russia and Georgia, she incorrectly identifies Russia as the aggressor and then says this:
"They’re our next door neighbors. And you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska."
3) Interview with Charlie, again. When asked about the motivations of the terrorists who attacked on 9/11:
"You know, there is a very small percentage of Islamic believers who are extreme, and they are violent, and they do not believe in American ideals. And they attacked us. And now we are at a point, here, seven years later, on the anniversary, in this post- 9/11 world, where we are able to commit to never again. The only option for them is to become a suicide bomber, to get caught up in this evil, in this terror. They need to be provided the hope that all Americans have, instilled in us, because we’re a democratic and we are a free, we’re a free-thinking society."
4) Charlie tries to nail her down on what she believes about preemptive warfare. Finally, he gets this out of her:
"I believe that America has to exercise all options in order to stop the terrorists who are hell-bent on destroying America, and our allies. We have got to have all options out there on the table."
If you've not seen this interview yet, it's a must-see, if you've got any inclinations to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket.
Part 1:
Part 2:
OK, now let's move on to this week's interview with Katie Couric.
Part 1 of the Couric-Palin interview is rich with proof of my thesis, so be sure to watch it here--it contains the "I'll get back to you" shocker at the end, when Katie asks her about McCain's deregulation record:
Part 2, though. Where do we start...even more beauty contestant answers:
1) Katie Couric asks Sarah Palin how she sees the United States' place in the world:
"I see the United States as being a force for good in the world. And as Ronald Reagan used to talk about, America being the beacon of light and hope for those who are seeking democratic values and tolerance and freedom. I see our country being able to represent those things that can be looked to … as that leadership, that light needed across the world."
2) On why she had not applied for a passport until last year:
"I'm not one of those who maybe came from a background of, you know, kids who perhaps graduate college and their parents give them a passport and give them a backpack and say go off and travel the world. No, I've worked all my life. In fact, I usually had two jobs all my life until I had kids. I was not a part of, I guess, that culture. The way that I have understood the world is through education, through books, through mediums that have provided me a lot of perspective on the world."
3) And her perspective on the world, as exemplified with her "dealings" with Russia? Warped, at best:
"We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right next to, they are right next to our state."
(Gotta give Katie kudos for keeping a straight face during that response...now it gets better, though...)
4) Palin hears "the evil that Ahmadinejad speaks," but somewhere along the line, she not only missed what Henry Kissinger has said about diplomacy, but also presumes to know more about it:
“I’ve never heard Henry Kissinger say, ‘Yeah, I’ll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met.’”
5) On Israel, her understanding of the history of Israel is totally lacking:
“We shouldn’t second-guess Israel’s security efforts because we cannot ever afford to send a message that we would allow a second Holocaust, for one...We don’t have to second-guess what their efforts would be if they believe that it is in their country and their allies, including us, all of our best interests to fight against a regime, especially Iran, who would seek to wipe them off the face of the earth.”
6) Palin sees the world in a sixth-grader's dichotomous way. Black/White, Good/Evil:
“It is obvious to me who the good guys are in this one and who the bad guys are. The bad guys are the ones who say Israel is a stinking corpse and should be wiped off the face of the earth. That’s not a good guy who is saying that. Now, one who would seek to protect the good guys in this, the leaders of Israel and her friends, her allies, including the United States, in my world, those are the good guys.”
Lordy oh lord. If you've missed these interviews, you've got to see them. Here's part 2:
Oh...and about the pageant thing...here's a photo of Palin as a beauty contestant...she won "Miss Wasilla" but placed second as "Miss Alaska." Pity.
Threatening legal action will not be enough to stop a national gossip magazine from featuring its exclusive on Sarah Palin’s alleged extramarital affair.
According to The NATIONAL ENQUIRER, three members of the man’s family, including one by sworn affidavit, have claimed that Palin engaged in an affair with husband Todd’s former business partner, Brad Hanson.
Hanson owned a snowmobile dealership with Palin’s husband Todd, who terminated the partnership after he heard stories about the alleged romp in 1996. This was around the time that Palin was mayor of Wasilla.
“Sarah was elected mayor of Wasilla, Brad became a city council member in the nearby town of Palmer, and they started an affair,” says Jim Burdett, who was described by the Enquirer as a “Hanson family insider.”
“Todd found out about the affair and was so mad he broke up their partnership at the snowmobile dealership.”
The NATIONAL ENQUIRER says that Burdett has gone on the record with the details of the affair and even passed a “rigorous” polygraph test. Another source, who The NATIONAL ENQUIRER did not identify, provided the magazine with a sworn affidavit attesting to the Palin-Hanson report.
“I’ve known about Brad having had an affair for a long time, but it wasn’t until just recently that I learned his affair was with Sarah Palin,” Burdett tells The NATIONAL ENQUIRER.
Rumors of Palin’s alleged secret booty call have been circulating the ‘net. Coincidentally, Hanson has reportedly filed a motion to have his divorce records sealed in Alaska.
I suppose many of you have seen the interview with Charlie Gibson. It makes me laugh every time I see it. She acts as if she's condescending to Gibson, but she knows positively NOTHING about foreign policy, as this video demonstrates.
"Lookit! I can see Russia from my house! Therefore, I'm a foreign policy expert on Russia."
Palin once blessed to be free from 'witchcraft' By GARANCE BURKE – 4 hours ago
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A grainy YouTube video surfaced Wednesday showing Sarah Palin being blessed in her hometown church three years ago by a Kenyan pastor who prayed for her protection from "witchcraft" as she prepared to seek higher office.
The video shows Palin standing before Bishop Thomas Muthee in the pulpit of the Wasilla Assembly of God church, holding her hands open as he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft."
"Come on, talk to God about this woman. We declare, save her from Satan," Muthee said as two attendants placed their hands on Palin's shoulders. "Make her way my God. Bring finances her way even for the campaign in the name of Jesus. ... Use her to turn this nation the other way around."
Palin filed campaign papers a few months later, in October 2005, and was elected governor the next year.
Palin does not say anything on the video and keeps her head bowed throughout the blessing. The Republican vice presidential candidate was baptized at the church but stopped attending regularly in 2002.
A spokesman for the McCain campaign declined to comment. A person who answered the phone at the Wasilla church confirmed the video was from May 2005 but declined further comment.
2) He dropped out of the Ole Miss debate with the excuse that he had to be in Washington to fix the economy.
If he's Presidential material, shouldn't McCain be able to work on two things at one time? This is just a ploy to distract from the fact that he's plummeting in the polls, and he's probably not up to facing Obama on the stage at UM. Sucks to be him, I guess.
John McCain’s choice of running-mate raises serious questions about his judgment
THE most audacious move of the race so far is also, potentially, the most self-destructive. John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running-mate has set the political atmosphere alight with both enthusiasm and dismay.
Mr McCain has based his campaign on the idea that this is a dangerous world—and that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to deal with it. He has also acknowledged that his advanced age—he celebrated his 72nd birthday on August 29th—makes his choice of vice-president unusually important. Now he has chosen as his running mate, on the basis of the most cursory vetting, a first-term governor of Alaska.
....
But once the cheering and the chanting had died down, serious questions remained. The political calculations behind Mr McCain’s choice hardly look robust. Mrs Palin is not quite the pork-busting reformer that her supporters claim. She may have become famous as the governor who finally killed the infamous “bridge to nowhere”—the $220m bridge to the sparsely inhabited island of Gravina, Alaska. But she was in favour of the bridge before she was against it (and told local residents that they weren’t “nowhere to her”). As mayor of Wasilla, a metropolis of 9,000 people, she initiated annual trips to Washington, DC, to ask for more earmarks from the state’s congressional delegation, and employed Washington lobbyists to press for more funds for her town.
Nor is Mrs Palin well placed to win over the moderate and independent voters who hold the keys to the White House. Mr McCain’s main political problem is not energising his base; he enjoys more support among Republicans than Mr Obama does among Democrats. His problem is reaching out to swing voters at a time when the number of self-identified Republicans is up to ten points lower than the number of self-identified Democrats. Mr McCain needs to attract roughly 55% of independents and 15% of Democrats to win the election. But it is hard to see how a woman who supports the teaching of creationism rather than contraception, and who is soon to become a 44-year-old grandmother, helps him with soccer moms in the Philadelphia suburbs. A Rasmussen poll found that the Palin pick made 31% of undecided voters less likely to plump for Mr McCain and only 6% more likely.
The moose in the room, of course, is her lack of experience. When Geraldine Ferraro was picked as Walter Mondale’s running-mate, she had served in the House for three terms. Even the hapless Dan Quayle, George Bush senior’s sidekick, had served in the House and Senate for 12 years. Mrs Palin, who has been the governor of a state with a population of 670,000 for less than two years, is the most inexperienced candidate for a mainstream party in modern history.
A poor record: Her only political experience has been a few years as mayor of a small town in Alaska and less than two years as governor of that state. Her record wasn’t so great: the small town she left behind is now in financial ruin.
She knows nothing about the Iraq war: Nothing. Even though her son has enlisted, she admits to having no clear opinions about the war, says she hasn't given much thoughtto it.
She is a racist and a sexist who is no champion for women: When Palin heard that Barack Obama had won the Democratic nomination, she remarked, "So Sambo beat the Bitch."
Palin has been accused of abusing her power as Alaska governor: She tried to use her power as governor to get her ex-brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. An investigation is underway.
As mayor of Wasilla, Palin abused her power: She wanted the city librarian to remove books Palin didn't like, and when the librarian refused, Palin fired her. Many citizens of the town fought Palin on this abuse of power, and Palin withdrew the termination of the librarian. To this day, those people are on Palin's "enemy list."
To be blunt, she's stupid: She attributes the authorship of the Pledge of Allegiance to the founding fathers and says "If it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me." Only problem is, the Pledge wasn't authored until the 1892, and the "one nation under God" clause was only added in the 1950s. Not too saavy, for someone with a journalism degree--a B.A. degree that she only obtained after attending five schools in six years.
VEEP, huh? She has no clue about the role of the Vice President.
Obvious attempt to lure Clinton supporters: It is quite clear she was chosen just because of her gender (most Republicans have never even heard of her), and she’s being used as a trick by the McCain campaign to gain some of Hillary Clinton’s supporters.
Anti-gay-equality: Not only does she think the government should be telling people who they can and cannot marry, she also thinks that same sex couples should be denied benefits given to straight couples.
Palin supports abstinence-only education: Her unwed teen daughter Bristol's pregnancy (sperminated by a high-school drop-out) demonstrates that this archaic form of sex education is a failure.
Palin is a member of a kooky speaking-in-tongues church: Palin's pastor claims that 50% of his congregation speaks in tongues. Palin's congregation sees the state as the prophetic last refuge for citizens of the lower 48 states. She thinks that the Alaskan pipeline is "God's will."
Palin supported Alaskan secession from the United States: She and her husband Todd were members of the Alaskan Independence Party, the chief goal of which is to secure Alaskans a vote on seceding from the United States.
Palin is a tool in the GOP's "culture war" tactic of desperation: Because Republicans can't win on the war, health care, or the economy, their only tactic is to reignite anti-intellectual culture wars, with Palin front and center. "The emotions involved -- especially among the Christianist base who have immediately bonded on purely religious and cultural terms with Palin -- are epic."
Even her own mother-in-law is leaning toward voting for Obama: The people who know her best seem most hesitant to vote for her. There's this very candid letter from a Wasilla acquaintance, who says that what stands out most about Sarah is her "predatory ruthlessness." And Faye Palin, Todd's mother and Sarah's mother-in-law, says that Palin brings nothing to the ticket but her gender and her conservatism.
Anne Kilkenny, a citizen of Sarah's town Wasilla, Alaska, speaks out:
While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.
Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of “old boys”. Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal–loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).
As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated” her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska’s top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it’s pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn’t fire her sister’s ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.
She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.
Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.
This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.
“It was kind of disgusting,” Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the “lower 48” about life near the North Pole.
Mississippian. Love the outdoors. Gardening, fishing, camping, photography. Southern culture fanatic...love living in the South and all the quirky things about it.
Posts
