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McCain Picks Gov. Palin As Running Mate
Many readers have written to tell us about McCain's choice of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his VP choice. "Palin, 44, a self-described 'hockey mom,' is a conservative first-term governor of Alaska with strong anti-abortion views, a record of reform and fiscal conservatism and an outsider's perspective on Washington. [...] If elected, Palin would be the first woman US vice president, adding another historic element to a presidential race that has been filled with firsts. Obama, 47, is the first black nominee of a major US political party. The choice of a vice president rarely has a major impact on the presidential race. Palin will meet Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a debate in October."
So after a huge front-page story that did nothing but announce Obama's running mate, McCain gets hidden away in some hidden corner of Slashdot. Despite the fact that Palin is a much more "nerd-friendly" pick than Biden. She's never tried to outlaw cryptography or make destroying copyright violators computers legal.
But hey, just because she's a better match for the political views of the average Slashdotter doesn't mean that Slashkos has to make this story visible. After all, it might threaten Saint Obama.
What's your problem with students receiving a more well-rounded education on the different views that are out there? The problem is that, like it or not, evolution touches on an area of belief where science and religion do intersect. I don't like the idea of creationism being taught in a science class, but I wouldn't mind them both (and other compelling theories) being presented in an "Origins and Development of Life" class.
Actually, no, it isn't.
Or how sad how many Americans have fallen in love with Obama even though he hasn't done anything but blow smoke up everyone's ass? Maybe he'll be a great president.. I don't know because so far all he's done is talk about change.. changing what though?
I just sit back, let everyone rip on each other for a couple months, then decide in mid-October who'll I'll support. Until then I just try to convince my friends to keep an open mind.
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
I'm glad I learned both creationism and evolution, because I come across many people that believe similarly. Why all the fear over knowledge, and people making informed choices themselves? The days of a single priest being the only man capable of reading a book, and proclaiming his interpretation, as the only correct interpretation are over. The self-appointed priests of science should do the same.
So you would want a multi-party setup like most foreign countries? The type that crash and burn repeatedly (see Italy, et.al.) and do nothing but paralyze and weaken the government? (Not that a little gridlock is all bad). It may not be the best system but name a current better one.
> > >We don't need no steeekin'.....oh wait, my wife says we do.
In addition to that, she's also pretty rabidly pro-life.
You mean she's against the death penalty? So am I!
Or do you mean anti-abortion? 'Snot the same thing.
"Pro Choice" nitwits are just as bad, if they're "pro choice" they're for legalizing drugs. Why is it a woman's right to remove a fetus, but not to add a drug?
Both sides of the abortion debate are wrong.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
Except that with half the country, racism is very strong. Not just with prejudiced rednecks, or stuck-up snobs, but with with the very people who claim to be affected by it.
Let me explain. I heard on the radio the other day, someone called in to say, "an insult to Barak Oboma is an insult to all blacks everywhere." This statement is a bit extreme, but I see it very commonly all over where I live. I have a good friend who is Mexican and takes it personally when someone says something bad about any Mexican.
The problem with this is that if an insult to one is an insult to all, then a compliment to one is a compliment to all, right? And if one does anything, all are judged good or bad by that individual's actions, correct?
In other words, I get to cry "foul" when people judge me by the actions of others in my group, and claim discrimination, but also get to feel insulted when they talk bad about anyone else in that group whether or not I know them or have anything to do with them.
What they don't realize is that they are promoting the very racism that they are complaining about.
I do admit that there are many who treat others unfairly because of the color of their skin. This is shameful, and I do not excuse it. There are also many that promote this behaviour without realizing it. Unfortunately, this means that racism is alive today and much stronger than we would like to believe. It will probably continue to be a strong factor in politics for many years to come.
Great civilizations have lived and died on false theories. Don't mess up mine with a few facts.
Depends on the social conservatives, since they have a pretty wide range.
If you look at Church of Christ (or other groups like them), who are NOT a minor political force, they are pretty strict about 'No woman can ever have domain over any adult male'. women can't even be teachers if the students might be adult males.
The ethical scandal is that she then got the commissioner fired for not doing as she wished. *That* is the big problem... she is, just like the current executive, intolerant of people who are not yes-men.
The "doing as she wished" part he wouldn't do, was firing a cop for a clear abuse of trust. Seems to me if you're refusing to fire someone who needs firing, then yeah, you're gonna go AND he's gonna go. Not sure how my business situation would be any different, or probably yours. For it to be an ethical scandal, the actions would need to be the wrong things to do.
Are you saying that a cop that tazer's his own nephew, and threatens the life of his ex-wife's dad, shouldn't be fired?
I, for one, do not want another my-way-or-the-highway executive, because no person is infallible.
Maybe the nephew really deserved to be tazered.
obama hasnt passed anything. look up on obama's record of voting "present" on many issues.
he has been in the senate now for 143 days. regardless of how big alaska is relative to any other state the very fact that she has had EXECUTIVE experience, fighting big oil and actually passing budgetary spending to save money and putting that money in a state savings account. Obama's "presence" in the illinois senate and his 5 months in washington is just smoke.
she is "one of us". what i mean is she isn't from the CEO private fundy school with nothing but money and power on her mind. This is why she will bring votes in by normal americans and this is why the far left and the north-easterners will hate her guts.
She doesn't toe the party line firmly. She angers many members of the Republican party. She called them out for corruption, and is especially unpopular with GOP members like Stevens (series of tubes) in Alask
Not at all.
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/8/29/83614/5859
In summary, she toes the party line.
They called him Bush's insurance policy.
You have to wonder if McCain will make it thru his term(s). I say that if McCain is elected, there's a 50-50 chance that he'll die in office and she'll be next prez.
You're going to get grief on the "broodmare" comment, which is a shame, cause that was a great line. I'd mod you up if I had 'em.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
I'm actually curious - what *is* wrong with creationism? I don't know.
This woman is not qualified to be the President of the United States.
I've been following Gov. Palin for more than half a year now, long before she was on the mainstream political radar. I figured that she was a stretch candidate with little chance of actually getting picked, and was quite surprised to wake up to today's news. Of course, I suspect I still might not be voting for her ticket and I disagree with her on a number of issues, but she was definitely my favorite of the potential GOP picks. She has a Cha stat rivaling Obama's, and is IMHO quite a better speaker than McCain.
Even before her pick as VP, I'd estimated that there was a good chance that the 2012 Presidential contest would be Hillary Clinton vs. Sarah Palin, which would undoubtedly result in a record number of spontaneous cranial detonations amongst the talking heads. I am worried that although she's a political rising star her pick this year might be premature, but I guess we'll see. I'm also pretty amused at the people citing her inexperience, considering that she has more experience with running a government than McCain, Obama, Biden, and Barr combined. I sympathize somewhat with those who wish that she were on the top of the GOP ticket instead of McCain.
Most pundits seem to be focused on Palin's being a woman, but I see her as a way for McCain to reach out to the libertarian crowd. One commentator described her as the "libertarian VP candidate," or at least the closest thing to a libertarian that we're likely to see on a major-party ticket: http://blogs.denverpost.com/opinion/2008/08/29/the-libertarian-vp-canidate/
Her being pro-life impacts that somewhat, but then again, so was Ron Paul. Palin's libertarian tendencies should help somewhat with voters who are worried about McCain's occasional populist streaks. Also, assuming that nothing comes out of the TrooperGate mini-scandal (which, since she survived the vetting process, I'm assuming nothing will), McCain and Palin should be able to use their histories to milk the anti-pork, anti-corruption angle quite a bit.
The next few months will be very interesting.
When you look at Sarah Palin's resume, this scandal is the only thing on it.
Mayor of town of 6000, fell into the Governor's Mansion due to luck making her the only Republican public official in the Alaska Republican Party that wasn't under indictment. In a year and a half as governor, she's already managed to get in a scandal herself.
Which is about 12 months* more experience than Obama had when he started running for President. He had a whole 133 days* in the US Senate under his belt.
*disclaimer: a "day" as used this context does not represent one revolution of the earth, one seventh of a week, or 1/365th of a year. Likewise, one "month" as used here is not equal to an average of 30.4 days, nor is it 1/12th of a year. Do not consume "day" or "month". Do not use "day" or "month" in Nevada or Arkansas. Allow six to eight "weeks" for "day" or "month" to arrive.
Why? I'm just using the words of President Jimmy Carter here. What's the problem?
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!