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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."
Joe Biden: "Governor Palin, I served with Dan Quayle; Dan Quayle was a friend of mine. Governor, you're no Dan Quayle."
Bryan J. Casto
bryan.casto(a)gmail.com
I worked with her last year, doing some linux consulting work for the State of Alaska. I'd definitely tap her :)
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
The Republican ticket is now complete, with John McCain picking Sarah Palin, the Republican Governor of Alaska as his running mate. And sure, she is hot (safe for work) but it would appear she is also a proponent of teaching creationism alongside Evolution in public schools. I don't mean to start a flame war here (ok maybe just a little) but seriously, how can anyone take a candidate seriously when they shamelessly pander to the stupid lobby?
Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
I think this is a great pick. The Democrats seem to want to attack Palin on experience but, in the minds of many, every attack/criticism they make against Palin will be silently re-asked by viewers about the Democrats' presidential pick.
Democrats are in a catch-22. Great political move by McCain. And Palin's speech in Dayton was excellent and motivating and inspirational, far more than what I heard from Obama last night at the DNC convention.
Skin color and ethnicity should matter in an election, but Obama is half-"white American" half "Black African." While that technically makes him half African-American, he does not share the full cultural heritage that is commonly understood by the term "African-American."
His dad was from Africa, not the son or grandson of a sharecropper and not the descendant of slaves from pre-Civil-War America.
I will grant you that he grew up in the '60s and '70s in a time where his skin color gave him distinct disadvantages, but that's not the same as having parents and grandparents who faced the same obstacles.
Barak Obama has far more in common with lawyers from Harvard than your average African American.
Thankfully, for today's generation and the ones to follow, the cultural differences are becoming more about economic differences rather than differences in skin tone and whether your ancestors were property.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Well she just asked "What exactly does a vice president do?", on CNBC. Um, ok that is scary. This is just a female Dan Quayle that instead of golfing hunts, fishes and wrestles bears. Unfortunately she does none of these things naked.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
Face it, though, neither Palin (a self-admitted creationist) nor Biden (a proponent of stronger police powers) is a 'nerd-friendly' pick.
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
I myself don't want to see McCain in the White House, but if they (McCain/Palin) actually do get elected, I wouldn't mind becoming an intern to Palin in the White House. You know what I am talking about! Yeah Baby!
-- Brought to you by Carl's JR
I've heard discussions that Gov. Palin has had some difficulties with mainstream conservatives. Considering that McCain has almost no chance of winning this election, could picking Palin have been more about taking her out of the picture?
After all, how many candidates from losing presidential tickets - presidential or veep - have been endorsed for office by their parties afterwards?
This could be the GOP's way of holding on for Pawlenty and Romney to run at later times when there is a chance of the republicans winning the white house.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Well, given the title, I am tempted to assume you're joking. But the capacity of Republicans and their supporters for self parody can't be down played. Perhaps you're actually serious. Next you're going to be going on about Palin's experience and readiness to be president in a job that is, as they say, a heart beat away.
I think that the opposite of your claim is true: McCain is doomed. He just destroyed the "Obama doesn't have the experience to lead" meme. Sure Palin is a hard right social conservative. But she also happens to be an ex-beauty queen with an ethical scandal in Alaska. The social conservatives claim that women should be at home, not running for the Vice Presidency. Of course they're a bit inconsistent on this. I think that you'll find that Palin and her big breasts are a huge liability for McCain. If nothing else, she'll emphasize that he's very old.
She tried to get a state trooper fired for divorcing her sister and after that failed, fired his boss for not firing him.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Just a little something I read about the government not being allowed to outlaw or advance any particular religion. And, yeah, any form of ID? Yup, that's a religious belief, not a scientific one.
And for strict biblical literalists, teaching a heliocentric model of the solar system is going against their religion. Are we supposed to teach geocentrism in public schools, as well?
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
Nah, it's a good political move ignoring completely Hillary supporters.
Which do you want? An experienced president who you hope doesn't die and leaves you with a relatively inexperienced vice-president? Or do you want an inexperienced president that you hope dies so you can get some experience in the presidency?
This was a great chess move by the Republicans. Checkmate, Obama is done.
she is also a proponent of teaching creationism alongside Evolution in public schools
I don't see anything wrong with teaching the history of humanity's understanding of the planet's origins. For a long time, consensus was that the planet was 6,000 years old. Without learning about creationism, it is harder for students to grasp the extent of the impact that Darwin's On the Origin of Species had on the development of biology.
I suspect:
Personally, I wouldn't mind the ticket being reversed: Palin/McCain. But given what we've got, Palin's speech this morning was far more inspirational and motivating than Obama's. And she didn't even have a crowd of 80,000 at Invesco field to drum up the energy.
What's sad is that when Democrats run women, it's looked at as somehow genuine but when Republicans run a woman it's looked at as pandering.
Because when people talk about presenting "both" sides of an issue, they usually don't mean the "informed" and "uninformed" sides.
If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
Because now we'll see a Hot for Vice President site spring up.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
The very title of such a "Origins and Development of Life" class would imply that students would be taught on the origins and development of life - and not "Varying Views on the Origins and Development of Life"; thus creationism would still have no place in such a class.
There are already classes for creationism: theology classes. They may not be required material, but they do exist - and if you want that well-rounded education, you'll take it.
Unfortunately there are various problems with mandatory theology classes as generally proposed - not the least of which is that they mean Christian Theology classes; if other religions are mentioned at all, then they are generally mentioned in the bylines and quickly dismissed in favor of the Christian views. If you think that atheism is covered in such classes at all, you're horribly mistaken (well, other than the whole "non-believers go to hell, THEY GO TO HELL AND THEN THEY BURN AND THEY DIE!!!"-part, though they try to tone that down a little these days.)
Personally I don't think that religion has any place in public schools (what private schools do is entirely up to them), not even as an alternative view on things such as the origin of life, the universe, etc. No more than Time Cube would have a place as an alternative view on physics.
Because she looks strikingly similar to Laura Roslin.
I've heard a few people comment that she should hold her own against Biden, who has a tendancy to talk over people. While this may be acceptable against a man, albeit rude, against a woman, all she has to do is start tapping her foot or give some other indication that her speaking time is being infringed and it really makes Biden look bad. "The man" holding her down, etc.
Good contrast in beliefs, senatorial v. executive experience, should be interesting! I really didn't know who I wanted as VP but hearing her speak this morning, I think she can be solid.
That I wish she were the PRESIDENTIAL nominee. Sarah Palin has excellent credentials of taking on corruption (even in her own party). She said no thanks to Sen. Ted "Internet Tubes" Steven's 100 million dollar "bridge to nowhere", and called for his investigation in a corruption scandal. I hear crickets from the Dems with respect to Rep William Jefferson (of New Orleans) and the $100K found in his freezer, etc...
The best thing about this is that it sets her up to be the nominee next time out.
Corporatism != Free Market
Are you saying she should have? I thought it was all about the "woman's right to choose" with the abortion crowd.
Uh, I doubt many Hillary supporters are going to vote for someone so strongly pro-life. Just a guess, but I think it's safe. There will be some loss, but not much.
Frankly I don't see this pick as shoring up the McCain ticket much except in terms of solidifying his base.
The enemies of Democracy are
Perhaps Biden should look at implants.
He already has. The open question is where they got them from. :-)
Michael Palin will make an excellent vice presidential candidate. Awesome.
The article you link to is over a month old. Here is a list of more recent stories from the Anchorage Daily News:
http://searchalaska.adn.com/sp?keywords=monegan&submit=find+%BB&aff=1100
Sorry, this story is already getting amazing traction.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Somehow you're COMPLETELY overlooking the Hillary/Obama race, and I'm honestly shocked you don't see it.
Hillary/Obama race was often summed up as: First woman or First black man?
You don't remember that?? Because, at least in my neck of the woods, there are still many who wish it had gone the other way. Many who would rather give the woman thing a go first...
Now McCain gets to tap into that vibe, and probably shore up at least a few of those voters that would have preferred Hillary over Obama. They didn't really WANT to vote McCain before, but they would have just for the woman factor, and because they have some kind of irrational hatred for Obama. Now they've been handed a reason to want to vote for him, too.
In short, my grandmother who has voted Democrat for the last 50 or 60 years will now almost certainly vote Republican.
Genius, really.
Gee, since social conservatives do support her and she isn't at home, guess you don't know what the hell you are talking about.
November will tell, of course but I think you are wrong; McCain just took the Presidency. People who were ambivalent, such as myself, and were going to stay home, will now be voting Republican. And as for experience, she has had over 5 years as a Governmental executive administrator and a year as State Governor. Light, but about 5 years better than Obama. (Four if you give him the Senate, which I do. I really wouldn't make experience an issue. She is only running for VP and has more experience than Obama.)
And the ethical scandal, which came out amazingly a couple of months ago - right after rumors of the possibility of a VP tap. When the opposition (some Democrats but also many Republicans who were burned by her corruption probes) suggested an independent review, she indicated this was a good idea to get everything out in the open.
I think that the opposite of your claim is true: McCain is doomed. He just destroyed the "Obama doesn't have the experience to lead" meme. Sure Palin is a hard right social conservative. But she also happens to be an ex-beauty queen with an ethical scandal in Alaska.
Ethical scandal? Really? She pushed for the firing of some cop who tazer'd his own nephew, and then threatened the life of his soon-to-be-ex father in law? Seems like a fireable offense to me. Regardless of how she's related to the family.
The social conservatives claim that women should be at home, not running for the Vice Presidency. Of course they're a bit inconsistent on this.
Pardon, but I think perhaps you may not be qualified to speak for "the social conservatives".
Because now we'll see a Hot for Vice President site spring up.
http://www.vpilf.com/
She's had 5 kids. I wouldn't bet on anything more than 'decent'.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
You don't remember that?? Because, at least in my neck of the woods, there are still many who wish it had gone the other way. Many who would rather give the woman thing a go first...
Because they've outgrown misogyny but not racism?
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
That's because it is? How concerned have you ever seen the Republican party over women's rights? Hell, they have a hard time caring about anything other than wealthy, property owner rights.
That is all.
Because they've outgrown misogyny but not racism?
In a word, yes.
Blame the two-job economy if you'd like, but there are far greater forces working in favor of eliminating sexism than racism.
AND, no one has been able to link Palin directly to the firing in question. Not through phone logs, witnesses, or anything else.
It also appears that Hillary voters are moving to Palin in a big way, according to some of their blogs.
This is like some sad attempt at political fanfic. Do you have little puppets of them at home that you play with like Lord Helmet?
At age 72, expected lifespan is another 11.2 years (and those numbers are from 1996, it maybe be a few years longer now). If the skin cancer recurs, he's in worse shape, but dying in the next 4-8 years is not a foregone conclusion. Now, you aren't necessarily compos mentis that whole period, but we've established that that is not a requirement to be president.
$_ = "wftedskaebjgdpjgidbsmnjgcdwatb"; tr/a-z/oh, turtleneck Phrase Jar!/; print
Not that this is the basis for my vote, but I'd like to point out that Palin was the Gov. of Alaska, one of the states that McCain is older than. Made me smile, at least ; - )
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahjlNLo_3TFE&refer=home
She did not fire that cop for the right reasons. She fired him for the wrong reasons. And you should not encourage that.
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
I think he's senile now.
if you subscribe to the Bush doctrine on torture (as McCain now does), then McCain himself was never "tortured" at the Hanoi Hilton and the anti-American statements he made to his captors are, in fact, truthful and accurate intelligence.
from a comment on a story in the Wash Post.
Well, for starters she is a creationist (though it sounds like she is promising to keep out of the debate, even though her personal opinion is that both should be taught), which has a definite science angle to it.
So far the only bits of tech policy anyone has mentioned out of her has to do with oil drilling, which she in favor of (married to an oil industry peep and lives in a state that gets stipends from anyone drilling there)
I present the parent post as exhibit A. See what happens if you teach kids religion in science classes?
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
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.
I, for one, do not want another my-way-or-the-highway executive, because no person is infallible.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Errr, no, she was already vetted during the primary...how much more is needed. The only thing they'd want to know would who contributed to Bill's presidential library. Only the bloviating media ever thought she was in the running for VP.
What's sad is that when Democrats run women, it's looked at as somehow genuine but when Republicans run a woman it's looked at as pandering.
Because, when Democrats run women, it's based on a long history of, y'know, actually having supported women's issues.
Since Republicans have a long history of voting *against* things like equal work for equal pay, then yeah - it's pandering.
Unfortunately (Well, unfortunately for the GOP - I'm fairly happy about it), I don't think it's going to be very effective - I have doubts most of the GOP is actually familiar with her record. So the xenophobes that are going to be really ticked at a 'tacking towards the center' approach, are going to be really ticked anyway, while the moderates that might be gained by *actually* tacking towards the center will be the ones that look up her record and decide 'No Thanks'.
On top of which, we have a McCain campaign screaming about Obama's lack of experience, but anointing someone younger and with *no* national or foreign policy experience.
Pug
An Invisible Entity of Vast Power whose existence must be taken on faith alone: Liberal Media
McCain very effectively put the experience issue to rest by picking Palin, which makes you wonder what the last month of crap from him and his surrogates was about. Obama as celebrity? Palin has actually won beauty contests. Obama passes legislation with his name on it in the U.S. Senate; Palin governs a state with less population than Austin, TX. Palin is also a creationist, arguing for equal time in science class.
Magoo very effectively hijacked the media cycle with this choice, but one wonders why he didn't choose from a legion of much more qualified, experienced, effective female Republicans.
Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
We dont know what Obama stands for except that he for the most socialist policy that i have ever read...coming just shy to that of marxism.
Yeah, Obama was totally promoting all sorts of government and worker ownership of the means of production last night. Right after he did the crowd surfing.
Read a book before you rant. And perhaps a reference on Obama's economic policy, too.
*sigh*
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
Far from being fiscally conservative, she raised the Alaska budget.
Yes, to a record $6.6B. But, at the same time, vetoed $231M.
She is rabidly anti-evolution.
This has already been discussed elsewhere in this article's comments. Such a claim will require more corroboration than you have offered.
She supports Ted Stevens.
That would explain why she cancelled his infamous Bridge to Nowhere.
She has no experience.
Yes, she is thin on experience. But, she has more experience in an executive position than both of her opponents, combined.
Some people EARN the grief they get and it has squat to do
with whatever "oppressed monority group" they would like to
have themselves associated with.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Just how many Americans do you feel would not sell out for far, far less?
I'm willing to bet I could buy votes for free beer...
Anyone who is willing to sell-out on their political beliefs just to vote for a gender lacks integrity, in my opinion.
I'd agree, but I'd add there's very little integrity in the political process. If people actually supported Hillary Clinton for her policies, her supporters would be evenly split between male and female. That's not the case, so there's at least some portion of Hillary Clinton supporters who voted for her only because of her gender. Probably a large portion.
Keep in mind that this isn't supposed to take away the hard core democrat supporters of Hillary. It's aimed at the swing voters. Swing voters are stupid. If they weren't stupid, they wouldn't have trouble deciding who to support. So you can expect this to be a very effective move by McCain. We're one Biden gaffe away from a McCain presidency.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
How are you keeping an open mind when you haven't even bothered to check his legislative record? He's gotten major bills passed with his name on them in the U.S. Senate (e.g., the Coburn-Obama Transparency Bill). It's not the longest record in Washington but it's not the shortest either.
Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
That has nothing to do with her being a woman.
it has a lot to do with her being a general snob and/or jackass. :-)
To quote a blogger on National Review, if this person with all of her credentials and history had been a man, would she have gotten nominated? If you think that this pick didn't have anything to do with trying to pander to disgruntled Hillary Clinton voters, then I've got a bridge to nowhere in Alaska to sell you.
Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
Why do we consider Sen. Obama the first black nominee? He is half black. If he were living in Africa, he be considered white. Just something I have been wondering.
If a sizeable portion of the population holds to an "uninformed" side, then you had better teach that, too. Heck, I try to teach my kids what Democrats think and we have a great discussion about it.
I've no idea if the cop deserved to be fired; let's assume he did. That's not the controversy.
The controversy is that she claimed she never pressured the commissioner to fire him. Then when tapes come out of one of her aides doing exactly that, she claims she didn't know about it, that one of her aides tried to get her ex-brother-in-law fired entirely without her knowledge, right before she fired the commissioner for entirely unrelated reasons.
It's like "US Attorney Scandal: Hillbilly Edition".
"But she also happens to be an ex-beauty queen with an ethical scandal in Alaska."
With more executive experience than anyone else on *either* ticket! yes she is not one to run on experience but you dont think the dems will dare call her on that do you? after all I look forward to a McCain commercial with Hillary talking about Obamas experience from the primaries.
"The social conservatives claim that women should be at home, not running for the Vice Presidency."
As a social conservative I have to ask you... what the hell are you talking about? I was 90% sure I was going to vote 3rd party *again* this year. If he had Picked Romney I would have voted 3rd, if he had Picked Lieberman I would have voted 3rd, Pawlenty might have gotten me to 50/50... but this pick is *solid* and Im now in the 75% voting McCain...
"Ahh! Arrogance and stupidity in the same package, how efficient of you!" --Londo Molari
It's probably the timing, like the Sixaxis which came across as me-too-man-ship. In this metaphor Clinton is the Wii and Palin is the Sixaxis. Although I don't recall there being a raging nerd lust for Clinton. And the Wii hasn't been discontinued in favour of the DS. And Palin's not going to be upgraded to rumble hold on, I'll come back in with a car metaphor.
Palin is like the SMART car, y'see, and Clinton is a Hybrid...
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
You do realize that McCain is going to be 72 and has now outlived his father and his grandfather, both of which died of sudden heart attacks.
So basically, the candidate you are voting for is his successor- which is a person who is a first term governor with a state having the population of the city of Memphis,TN. Not to mention that is an entirely republican state so she doesn't even have any cross-party experience.
Yea, this is a great move, but for the Democrats. Once people realize that you would have a token VP with absolutely no experience who is touring state funerals until our own president dies of old age, they're going to be really excited to back that party. Not to mention that many in the republican party are upset about the choice of a woman.
Quite honestly, the democrats couldn't have hoped for a better choice. An old man and a completely unknown inexperienced governor of one of the smallest populations for the VP spot. And yes, they are pandering to female voters. She is no Hillary Clinton, and women are smarter than that. They were voting for Hillary for her policies, not the fact that she was a woman. Democratic women abhor what Palin claims to stand for. Quite frankly, I'm overjoyed at this choice, they just assured the democrats a win in November.
Fine.
Great.
Now show us your tits.
Research shows that 67% of those who use the term "research shows", are just making shit up.
I am tired of this idea that conservatism means you hate anything that doesn't make old white guys rich. The Republican party turned away from true conservatism when the southern democrats fled their party over the schism with the liberal leanings coming from the northeast. There is no party for true conservatives. The Replublicans far too often aim to use the government to enforce 'moral standards' and the Democrats use it to replace personal responsibility. The closest thing to a true conservative party are the likes of Ron Paul, who with his rabid isolationist views (and the fact he is guano insano) scare off many before any hint of the 'small government' ideals come out.
And frankly, it doesn't matter who wins the presidency, or ultimately even who controls the congress. Any positive ideas or bills to come out of D.C. must first pass through the putrid filter of bureaucracy. Remember, an elephant is just a mouse designed by a commitee.
But don't listen to me. I'm just an evil conservative.
I'm sorry, being a mayor of a town of 9000 doesn't qualify you to be Vice President, especially when the presidential candidate has age and a history of health problems going against him.
As for governor, Alaska has a population of 670,000, roughly twice the population of the CITY I live in.
Alaska also does not face the same challenges as other states. They basically don't have many taxes since they get all their wealth from oil, and so they don't have to deal with the budget issues other states have been stuck with. And she's only been governor for 2 years. At least George W. Bush had a lot more experience than that as governor of Texas. Also, they've been getting a huge windfall of revenue whereas most states are struggling to balance their budgets due to the high oil prices. There are no statewide income, sales, property or inheritance or state taxes (some localities have their own local taxes). Palin actually RAISED taxes on the oil companies and limited their exploration and development (which affects everyone else).
She has no international experience, or for that matter, any national experience.
Obama had millions of votes for him as a senator, several times the entire population of Alaska. Even as a state senator he represented far more people than she has as a mayor.
This post is encrypted twice with ROT-13. Documenting or attempting to crack this encryption is illegal.
You've missed the point that in no way was it her or her office's responsibility or duty to fire this guy. She strong-armed the guy's boss into firing him. It wasn't something she should have even been involved with.
She was the governor, right? Maybe I missed a timing issue, but I'm thinking the governor has purview over basically any part of the executive branch of the state. I'm not from Alaska, so perhaps I'm wrong, but if the governor things police officer 'Joe Schmoe' ought to be fired, I don't really think it is overstepping for their power to be used in this way. Think about it. This person was, presumably, on the state's payroll under the governor's watch. You could likewise fault her for not acting, could you not?
She overstepped her bounds and used her political office to gain revenge for a family member.
Unfortunately the point of 'overstepped' and the notion that revenge was the sole reason are both pretty weak, otherwise I'd agree with you.
I'm certain she enjoyed it, but that doesn't make it wrong in-and-of itself.
That's not misogyny....she IS a bitch. Big time. I know her from when she was first lady in Little Rock. She has become a better actor, but, don't kid yourself, when the klieg lights turn off, you would not want to be in the same room as her, she is a vicious, two-faced, say anything bitch. If you knew her well, you'd know that.
Obama can't choose his race, but, Hillary can sure choose her personality....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
You've missed the point that in no way was it her or her office's responsibility or duty to fire this guy. She strong-armed the guy's boss into firing him. It wasn't something she should have even been involved with. She overstepped her bounds and used her political office to gain revenge for a family member.
Point of clarification: As far as I can tell, Wooten (the state trooper) is still on the force. He was suspended for cause for 10 days, reduced to 5 days after a grievance was filed by the union.
http://www.adn.com/news/politics/story/510080.html
Reading between the lines, it appears that Palin's husband was responsible for a lot of the pressure.
You've got my vote...
Between less than two years as governor of a low population state (after being mayor of a town of 8,000), and twelve years in the Illinois/U.S. Senates, I'll take the Senator for having experience that matters more in Washington. Obama knows how to actually pass legislation in Congress. Palin will find Washington a bit different than Anchorage.
Hell, you want to compare executive experience? Obama built a campaign machine from scratch that defeated the Clintons and the Democratic Party's establishment over eighteen months. That's an accomplishment in itself that qualifies him.
Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
Obama didn't even have the courtesy to vet Hillary Clinton as a possible vice-president, ouch.
Under the express direction of Hillary Clinton. The instructions were to not vet her if she wouldn't be chosen. Basically, she didn't want to have to deal with the hassle of vetting if she wasn't going to get the spot. It's her prerogative, if she didn't want to be vetted, it's not something to hold against Obama.
Just kidding, I don't believe in the 2cd Amendment.
Funny, I must have missed that part. I remember the part where he said 'we must find a way to protect your guns while we keep AK-47's off of the streets' and 'gun control means significantly different things from (some rural location) to (some metropolitan location)'. Both of those are approximate paraphrases, not exact quotes.
I'm not a gun nut, and I'm not an anti-gun nut. I grew up with riffles, a shot gun, and a pair of pistols in the house. I field qual'ed sharp shooter and expert (twice) in my military service, and if I still lived out in the country I would likely still have a number of weapons on my property.
That said, there is an excess of gun crime in the country. Making more guns illegal will not reduce the number of gun crimes in the US. But more strongly enforcing the existing gun laws will. Taking resources off of the "War on Drugs" and putting them into a "War on illegal guns" would not only likely have an impact on illegal gun distribution, but also on population issues in prisons. Look at the number of people we have to support in prison for drug charges compared to gun related charges. We're just pissing tax money down the drain because some idiot got busted selling off joints to consenting adults... bah.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Are you saying she should have? I thought it was all about the "woman's right to choose" with the abortion crowd.
Seriously. Choosing to have a child with Down's Syndrome is brave and not something any pro-choice advocate should have a problem with. They might suspect that she was pressured into it by her community/party/husband/church, but that'd be a concern, not a reason to condemn the decision.
No. The problem pro-choice women will have with Palin isn't that she chose not to abort a baby with Down's. The problem they will have is that she would like to deny them the opportunity to choose in the same situation.
The enemies of Democracy are
I suspect he'll lose more votes from his base than he'll gain from uncertains or democrats.
The Free Republic crowd loves her; possibly because they think she's more of a fundie than she really is, but still. They aren't as troglodytic in terms of keeping women barefoot and pregnant as many believe.
How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
Well, McCain could have picked Condoleeza Rice...
(only joking)
No sig for the moment.
"He just destroyed the "Obama doesn't have the experience to lead" meme. "
Oh? How? Who's going to say she's inexperienced? Barack Obama?
Just how does he attack her without the attack doing a boomerang right back on him? Her time has been spent as an executive. She's done budgets, personnel, and signed and vetoed legislation.
Obama has done, oh, none of that. This is why his campaign's statement about her being the mayor of a small rube town was so silly. It allows Palin to say "Well, by all means, lets hear of your impressive credentials as a community organizer".
The brilliance of this pick is that the Democrats can't harp on Palin's supposed Vice-Presidential inexperience without highlighting Barack Obama's Presidential inexpierience.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
But don't listen to me. I'm just an evil conservative.
I think you're confusing Conservative and Liberal with being conservative or being liberal. Conservative (little c) generally means you want less drastic change -- you're content with the status quo (in my original post, this was a two century run of white male vice presidents - which as it happens has more to do with culture than with race, I'd suspect). I'm conservative about some things and liberal with others.
Conservative, these days, often gets mixed up with war-loving Neo-cons, while Liberal is a peace-loving, communistic hippy. It hurts to see descriptions of thinking become insults, and then have that be the understood definition.
There's good and bad to both sides: conservatives generally want you to do it yourself without the government's help (and everyone's taxes) -- America offers you the opportunity, it's up to you to grasp it. Liberal thinking is that not everyone really gets that opportunity without some effort on other people's part. Both sides have merit...we can neither be too hard nor too soft.
A lot of people will fall in to the trap of believing in "science" when a their "priesthood" endorses. A great example is the anti-nuclear group.
Another group is the pro nuclear power group.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
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?
He's been clear on what he plans to change and how he plans to do it. Check out The Blue-print for Change (Warning: PDF)
Dangerous, sexy, turing complete: Femme Bots
Maybe for ten seconds, until they realized that Palin might as well be a fat, prostitute-frequenting Republican for all the care she actually has for women's rights.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
There's no clear win for McCain with her. She takes the experience argument off the table. She accentuates McCain's age. She won't deliver any more states in the election. She'll raise focus on the Ted Stevens indictment. She has her own ethics problems. She won't bring in the Hillary delusionals when they find out she's pro-life. The only thing she does is excite the shriveling GOP base for a couple weeks.
Biden will wipe the floor with her at the VP debate.
She angered Big Oil in Alaska, maybe she was forced on McCain to get rid of her. If McCain is elected and doesn't complete his term, she might be very malleable to the hidden hands in Washington, which are much stronger than those in Alaska.
We already approached this question in Victorian times (Women were campaigning for suffrage since 1845).
And we all knew the result: Emancipation for the black man in 1863, while women didn't have the right to vote until 1920.
History repeats itself, wait and see.
Mod parent -1 troll. Didn't even read own links. "Introduced in the United States Senate as S. 2590 by Tom Coburn and Barack Obama on April 6, 2006"
Wait. I'm a conservative... I have a girlfriend... What the hell am I doing here?
Such declarations get bandied about so much that one hardly bats an eye; in my opinion, though, you've just lowered yourself more than anyone else here could.
I like McCaain, but from what little I've learned so far, this VP selection pushes me away from him a little.
XML causes global warming.
Your hat fell off. You need to order a new one.
You know the one where he served along with Weather Underground Terrorist William Ayers?
Doing any sort of politics in Chicago requires dealing with a whole bunch of shady characters. It's just a messy, messy place.
its been Obama who has been arguing all along that his experience doesn't matter, but now he wants to change his mind
I haven't, as of this posting, heard a single word out of Obama or any of his direct campaign advisors on McCain's VP pick. So I don't know how you can (yet) claim a flip flop is involved. Random yokels, be they on the Internet or on a 24 news network, do not speak for the campaign.
That said . . .
The ONE flip flopped on a number of things he was for during the primary to get the nomination. Interesting wouldn't you say?
Not really. "Flip flopping" is something you can accuse every politician ever of doing. It's only something you'd bring up if you have absolutely nothing better to throw at them.
The tennent of democracy is that you don't trust people with power. If you could, you'd be better off giving them absolute dictitorial control--it'd be a whole lot more efficient, and because you trust them, you trust them not to abuse their power. That situation is obviously a pipe dream, so instead we let people have power who want power, but make the system inefficient and force them to fight each other. A "do nothing congress" is actually a design goal.
An important part of that is it's OK for politicians to switch positions on a whim to cater to different voters. They want power, and will say anything to get it. That's just fine, because the system is designed to handle it.
Not a typewriter
Children with Down's syndrome have a suite of physical defects, often including mental retardation and short lifespan, caused by an error in cellular combination at conception. Their parents know this.
Many mothers these days have amniocentisis during pregnancy, which can reliably indicate Down's syndrome and a number of worse problems if present, and at that point can make a decision to terminate the pregnancy. They must face the question: "is it more cruel to bring this child into the world than to refrain from doing so?".
If you believe that a soul is placed in that child by God at the moment of conception, you may make a very different decision from someone who does not believe in deities, spirits, or souls.
Whatever you believe, behave as your religion and philosophy demand. I do not believe that it's the right of the governor of Alaska, or you, or the pope, to impose your religious beliefs on me or any unborn child that I might have.
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
> I think that the opposite of your claim is true: McCain is doomed. He just destroyed the "Obama
> doesn't have the experience to lead" meme.
Not really. Obama is putting that sort of crap out today and you are faithfully echoing it. I expect it to abruptly stop as soon as somebody with a clue in camp Obama manages to get a handle on this unexpected event. Both Palin and Obama have about the same experience in high office, Obama entered the Senate in '05 and effectively left to campaign for POTUS in early '07. Palin was elected Governor of AK in early 07 and was doing that 100% until today. Palin can claim a few years experience on various statewide offices, Obama can claim a few years in the IL legislature. And Obama is at the top of his ticket, not the sidekick. So if Obama keeps talking about lack of experience he invites media outlets to do stories comparing the candidates and he loses that argument.
> But she also happens to be an ex-beauty queen with an ethical scandal in Alaska.
Only in the minds of Dems. The Dems in the legislature manufactured a 'scandal' because the anti corruption efforts were starting to interfere with their (not that she wasn't also at war with the totally corrupt Repubs like Stevens, etc.) feeding at the public trough. And even then the worst case in this supposed 'scandal' is that the story is true. She got a brother in law who was beating her sister fired from his State Trooper position. I wanna see the NOW gang taking a position on that one. Should be fun.
Because of course they WILL oppose Palin, we all understand 'diversity' is celebrated in everything except thought. NOW, the race hustlers, they all say one thing but what they really mean is "we support SOCIALISTS of every race, religion and sexual orientation."
Would I want Palin as POTUS now? No, she is a little green. But assuming the Presidency is different. If the unthinkable happened McCain would already have a functioning administration, all the Cabinet positions would be staffed with (hopefully) competent folk, etc. And assuming she in the loop she would be getting a crash course in the things she needs to know to assume the office. And give her a couple of years in office and, yea she will be ready to be President in her own right. She already seems to know the things that can't be taught easilly and appears to be a fast study by observing her fast rise through the ranks.
On the other hand Obama is just as green and has zero accomplishments to his name other than getting elected to the US Senate.... by defeating Alan Keyes. Wow. Just Wow. Got handed editor of the Harvard Law Review as a Equal Opportunity hire and published nothing. Taught in a University and published NOTHING in a publish or perish world... and somehow didn't perish. Worked as a socialist agitator (what other name do you piy on somebody putting the teachings of Saul Alinksy into practice?) and can't point to a single action where he actually accomplished something noteworthy.
The only executive experience he could claim was on that Annenberg Challenge fiasco where his own final report says the money spent accomplished exactly zero improvement in the schools. And since the original grant proposal was written by a terrorist[1] (William Ayers) who kept the lead active role in handing out all that money to political cronies instead of helping improve education (the stated goal in the proposal) Obama really wants to make the whole experience disappear from his resume.
[1] No sane person would disagree with the statement that Ayers was a domestic terrorist. Ayers, as late as 2004 repents none of his acts, thus isn't really debatable that he should be labeled a terrorist in the present tense.
Democrat delenda est
do you think 2 years as the governor of a state is less than 4 years as a back bench Senator who didn't chair a subcommittee meeting?
I always find it hard to compare things that are different, so I won't.
I do find it interesting that the major issue McCain has raised against Obama is inexperience, and here he is picking someone that's inexperienced.
Alaska has a population of approximately 670,000 people and this is how many people she has been in charge of for 2 years.
I wasn't aware that the Governor of any state was "in charge of" the population of that state. My understanding was it was the other way around (i.e. democracy).
regardless of where you personally stand on issues at least you can know where she stands with no flip-flopping
That's funny. Reading the articles about her it sure sounds like she's "flip-flopped" on teaching creationism in schools. One minute it's "We should teach both", the next minute it's "It doesn't have to be part of the curriculum.". Sounds like a flip flop to me.
We dont know what Obama stands for except that he for the most socialist policy that i have ever read
I guess you don't read much, huh? Obama has been very clear on how he differs from McCain. If you think he's anywhere near socialism, I'd suggest you read up on socialism.
Of course all the "sophisticated" people in the northeast will try to strike her down because she isn't part of the "club"
I'm not really sure I fully understand this comment. Are you saying everyone in the northeast is "sophisticated" (whatever that means)? Or that only the NE "sophisticated" people believe this? Or that nobody outside the NE is "sophisticated"?
If you're saying some people are snobs and don't like other people that aren't snobs, you're right. I just don't understand what that has to do with the Northeast, being "sophisticated", or this election.
America needs someone outside of CEO corporate washington to represent us.
And that person should be John McCain, who thiks people who make less than 5 million dollars/year aren't rich, and has so many houses he can't remember how many he has? Not exactly someone who's "one of us".
She also wants to drill USA oil, not get oil from places where people want to wipe us off the face of the earth. She has tried but our friendly government has said no way. Hmm wonder why??
Maybe because it's a drop in the bucket, and the US doesn't have enough oil reserves to be independent? I'm really tired of the environment vs drilling argument, as it's the wrong argument. What people seem to have forgotten is that the US simply doesn't have enough oil to supply itself. We can't just say "Oh we'll drill for more and problem solved!".
AccountKiller
44 years old middle class (certainly no millionaire) woman mother of 5
I'm really glad they didn't choose a 44 year old middle class man mother of 5...
she's a vicepresident candidate and has MORE government experience than Obama
Uhm, not quite:
From Wikipedia:
Barack Obama:
Senator:
January 4, 2005 to now (3.5 years)
Illinois Senate:
January 8, 1997 - November 4, 2004 (8 years)
Sarah Palin:
Governor:
December 4, 2006 - now (not quite 2 years)
Mayor:
1996 - 2002 (6 years)
Welcome to Math 101.
That said, I like her stance on corruption, but she's only the VP candidate, so being VP under someone whose campaign is pretty much owned by the special interests she spurns is going to cripple any chance she has of doing anything unless McCain kicks the bucket.
She's also a creationist, anti-abortion, anti-contraception (!), all of which adds up to someone that Hillary supporters will have a hard time with.
I dunno whether this is a smart move by McCain or not, but you rarely go wrong counting on voters to be stupid, so it may help in the end. The GOP doesn't represent Republican voters, as they're clearly not for smaller government or less government spending (see also: Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 with a vengeance), or securing America (Bush 43, again with the vengeance), but the GOP always manages to sucker the Republican populace into *believing* they are for those things by *simply* saying they are. McCain doesn't have to win over any blue states, he just needs to tip enough states that are in contention.
McCain destroyed the "Obama doesn't have the experience to lead" meme just as much as Obama destroyed the "McCain, more of the Same" meme with Biden's VP choice.
Biden is just as much is entrenched as part of the D.C. problem as they come and believing the "Obama = change" is much harder than believing in Santa Claus.
The thing this girl brings to the table is:
1. She is the only conservative of the 4.
2. A lively debate as part of the political process.
That being said, I believe that she would offer more change beneficial to the populace than Obama if she were to be promoted to commander in chief because of some health issue of John "I was a POW for 5.5 years" McCain.
Obama doesn't believe in the 4th ammendment.
Biden wants to police the internet.
2 reasons I wouldn't be happy if Obama gets the keys to the White House.
The Creationism vs. Evolution battle has been fought and she's not a 'Creationism only policy' freak so that talking point doesn't hold any weight with me.
While they're at it, they might as well teach the Flying Spaghetti Monster myths in school too. People will believe what they want to believe and no amount of evidence will sway that opinion.
Cases in point:
-9/11 conspiracies
-Moon Landings
-UFOs
-Bigfoot < Yes, bigfoot has been a hoax as uttered on the deathbed by the guy who took the picture.
I'm not voting for either, I just think this election cycle just got a bit more interesting.
Part of me is rooting for McCain/Palin to win just to watch Hillary shriek.
Too bad that both of them will get clobbered in the debates.
if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
She said no thanks to Sen. Ted "Internet Tubes" Steven's 100 million dollar "bridge to nowhere",
Anchorage Daily News, 10/5/06: Palin Said She Supported The So-Called "Bridge To Nowhere," But Was Concerned Money "Flow" Was "Going to Slow"
Might want to revisit your history....
Nowhere in the story you link to is she quoting as saying that. The author was her budget director, and if you actually RTFA, he states that earmarks aren't a "free lunch" because of the consequences in involved, and in the following CNN article, she used the Bridge as an example of that. Sure, she'd have liked a nice, fat, free bridge, but the project would have stuck Alaska with 80 percent of the bill. So she supported killing it.
Here'a a real quote from her on the subject:
Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday the project was $329 million short of full funding.
"We will continue to look for options for Ketchikan to allow better access to the island," the Republican governor said. "The concentration is not going to be on a $400 million bridge."
Palin directed state transportation officials to find the most "fiscally responsible" alternative for access to the airport. She said the best option would be to upgrade the ferry system.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
I left out the very important word not. Race and ethnicity absolutely should not matter in a presidential election.
Mea culpa. Mea culpa 2^10 times over.
What does matter is his background and whether the voters are likely to make assumptions about his background based on skin color that are not necessarily true, such as assuming "he looks like me, therefore he must share my experiences" or "he does not look like me, therefore he does not share my experiences."
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I heard Hillary's so mean that when it's pitch black, she's likely to eat a grue.
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:
I'm not seeing it. I'm not a libertarian, but I do agree with a good number of their ideals and have voted for their candidates in the past. I don't know a lot about Palin, but my quick research did not really shout "libertarian."
In short, I see her pretty well aligned with the mainstream Republicans. I think her lack of history and relative obscurity is going to be a big asset since it lets people speculate and engage in a lot of wishful thinking. The libertarians would like her to be aligned with their position, or at least more aligned than other candidates because it provides hope. In reality, she seems more like a VP who would have little power under the assertive McCain and who is no more aligned with the libertarians than and of the other presidential or vice-presidential nominees.
Look, with all due respect, how is that "insightful"... it's just ad hominem. You provide no evidence to suggest she might be a bitch, just insist that if we were in your shoes, we'd agree. I'm no Hillary supporter, but that's just a derogatory personal attack, and your post should be called out as such.
You see, you can argue about Creationism. You can make very good philosophical arguments for and against Creationism in all its forms -- Intelligent Design being one of them. And you can make very good philosophical and scientific arguments for and against Evolution.
What is clear, however, is that Evolution is a scientific theory. Creationism isn't.
In other words: Right or wrong, Evolution is science. Creationism isn't. That's not an opinion, it's a fact -- by definition, "I think the Earth is six thousand years old because an old book told me so" is not science.
The only place Creationism has in a science classroom is as an object lesson of something that is not science.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
I don't have any religious beliefs, but I have no problem with the state using force to prevent you (or anyone else) from murdering other human beings.
Suggesting that an unborn child has no human rights until the instant of birth is absurd.
Suggesting that an egg gains full legal rights at the instant of conception is equally absurd.
This isn't an either-or situation. The answer isn't "pro-choice" or "pro-life".
I think that most all of us can agree that a clump of cells too small to be seen with the naked eye doesn't deserve any particular legal recogintion.
On the other hand, a unborn child that has developed enough that it could expect to survive outside the womb probably should have the same rights inside the womb as it would have outside.
In between these two points we can have reasonable laws the balance the interests of the mother with the interests of the unborn child.
If we'd quit listening to the people who say there is no middle ground then we could actually solve this argument and move on with life.
None of this means a bit to people who believe in immortal souls granted by God upon conception. I think that's where the real argument lies.
Bruce Perens.
So you're saying that the number two spot doesn't matter? That she wasn't hired to actually do anything on the job. To say that it doesn't matter that Palin is less experienced is to say that the VP is a position with no meaning and no sway, so it doesn't matter if experience doesn't matter. It's an admission that Palin was put on the ticket for one reason - not because of her strengths, not because of what she brings to the White House, only because she's a woman. We don't expect her to actually do anything, so it's okay that she has no experience.
I repeat - if McCain, the older man with bouts with disease should fall ill to old age, then this woman becomes president. Not number two, but number one. McCain has come out and said that this woman with almost no experience is actually experienced enough to be understudy to the most powerful position in the land. McCain is either short-sighted of having delusion of immortality.
And that doesn't matter? That doesn't matter that the "Experience is Everything!" campaign just decided that experience doesn't mean squat for the NUMBER TWO POSITION in the country?! Can you imagine Palin inheriting the number one spot? Is that something that the experience-loving McCain fans would be able to handle?
Yes, we know. We know Obama is running for president. We know he's inexperienced. You keep saying that. You were saying it last month, last week, yesterday, you kept saying it. So why, why now, have you given us the least bit of ability to say it about McCain?! Why would you do that? We know what you think of Obama - why would you give us the chance to change what people think about McCain?!
This whole thing just absolutely boggles my mind! I do not for the slightest moment understand the least bit of logic behind it!
Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
Too bad these people can't see that they'd eliminate a lot more abortions by supporting sex education and contraception then by pushing for absolute prohibition.
In a science classroom, in a public school, there is no 'debate' to be had about creationism. The Supreme Court made that crystal clear years ago - creationism is religious in nature, and has no place in a public school.
(And Intelligent Design is just creationism in a lab coat.)
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
I find it strange that you picked a part of the bible where cain was attempting to hide the fact he just killed his own brother
I am no theologian, but the key point in his response is his antipathy toward his brother. The inference in Cain's response is basically "it isn't my job" and "he is big enough to take care of himself". It was a setup. So they say Cain was a murderer and a liar. Moving forward the new testament is littered with indirect references indicating that the core beliefs of Christianity is that we are our brothers keeper. Call it Obama's dog whistle call to evangelicals who have started to take up the cause to help the poor and see it as a responsibility of their faith.
Yes, within respect to their abilities and enterprise. Thomas Jefferson
That is a great quote, and quite idealistic. It assumes that all people are on equal ground and that those on hard times are their due to some flaw in their person or their forefathers. It completely ignores what happens when your job of 20 years gets shipped overseas, it completely ignores 200+ years of slavery and 400+years of institutional racism in the US. It completely ignores seniors who go bankrupt after a catastrophic medical condition.
Society doesn't serve a purpose.
Going all the way back to Hobbes many have concluded that society does indeed serve a purpose. Hobbes argued that the society was a group of selfish individuals that united into a single body in order to maximize their safety-- to protect themselves from one another. Locke proposed that education above everything else was responsible for forging the moral and intellectual character of individuals; he proposed in part an extension of education to every member of society and went on to conclude whenever that authority ceases to care for the welfare, independence, and equality of individual humans, the social contract is broken and it is the duty of the members of society to overthrow that ruler. Sound familiar? Which leads me to my next point, which should have read:
How far does society go?
Why provide public school? Why provide highway services? Why provide ? Simple. The reward to society outweighs the cost of the program. We education our citizens, ideally, to make them better citizens. Many countries provide healthcare for their citizens because it makes them more productive, they live longer, they are productive longer and hence are taxable for longer. Now, is their fraud? Sure, just like in business. But to me it is acceptable to help people in legitimate need, and run the risk of being defrauded.
And if you think that we don't protect people from hunger or disease, you need to wake up.
That is a typical idea throughout the US, and I urge you to challenge it. I challenge you to volunteer in the Emergency Room at your nearest academic medical institution. There you will see how well we protect people from hunger and disease. You will see women with lesions on their breast that look like they were stabbed, but it is really just advanced breast cancer because they have no primary care. You will see the elderly come in dehydrated, malnourished because there medications cost more than they have, so they just don't eat. You will see 40 year olds with limb amputations because of uncontrolled diabetes. 20 year olds dying from complications of sickle cell anemia, again from lack of primary care access. 8 and 10 year olds dying from asthma attacks. Yes you will see me too, because I actually work there.
With respect to food services, again, I would rather help 1 legitimate person and run the risk of being defrauded than not helping at all in fear of fraud.
food panties running out of food because college students....
That is just nonsense. The equivalent of the "Cadillac driving welfare queen"
90% or more of the actual poor people ge
Argh. The laws of science be a harsh mistress.
Don't even try to compare this Alaska beauty queen mayor of a town of 6000 with Obama.
Don't EVEN go there.
Let's start talking about McCain's judgement. McCain thinks if he dies, Sarah Palin should be sitting across a negotiations table from Vladimir Putin discussing Georgia.
Actually their experience is roughly similar.
If you consider being mayor of a town of less than 9000 people to be "similar" to being a state senator from the 5th largest state and the 3rd largest city in the country.
Except an important fact is that the Dems are trying to elect someone as president who has little experience, while the Reps are placing their low-experience candidate in the #2 slot.
The nice part about arguing with you wingnuts is that you're invariably full of shit on everything. George W. Bush's experience when he took office consisted of driving businesses into the ground and being the 5th most powerful politician in the state of Texas.
Are you saying that a cop that tazer's his own nephew
Are you saying that just because somebody is related to a police officer, they should have some sort of immunity or special treatment from the police?
Please don't try to speak for me. Here, let's try this in a way you might understand that is equally relevant. If you had someone whose job performance you were responsible, who abused a tool of his job, whose boss refused to act on a fireable offense, would you deal with it? If not, why not? Say his job was to maintain medical records and he pulled records for someone he wasn't treating - no different, ethically, from tazering somoene who didn't need it. Would you ask his boss WTF they were thinking in not fixing the problem? Because I sure the hell would, or MY boss would ask me why I didn't fix it. Accountability works both ways. If the public hired me to take care of business, and someone who I had doing same for a subset of my responsible areas failed to do so, you're damn right I'm gonna come down on them and the person they're protecting.
Is it likely that she knew about this because the cop's death threat was to her own dad? Of course. Does that mean she should NOT have fired the guy? Hell no.
Maybe your unwavering allegiance is thought-out and rational, the alignment of your views with party doctrine based on independent analysis and merely coincidental rather than guided, and your self-identifying with one of the two biggest groups of windbags on the planet merely a convenient communication device.
Or maybe you're just another partisan sock-puppet. Hard to say.
For small values of "just about anything".I found out that the Rep-VP candidate is possibly anti-contraception. I found out that the Rep-VP candidate is possibly in favor of teaching Creationism or "Intelligent Design" in the science classroom. I'll admit I don't know much about her yet, but I fail to see how either of these items would push me away from Obama.
XML causes global warming.
To be fair, 'decent' would be a huge improvement on any previous VP!
Now see here...
but it looks like she beat out Romney in the swimsuit competition.
... the most socialist policy that i have ever read...coming just shy to that of marxism ...
You have no idea what you are talking about. Let us get one thing straight right from the start: I am a socialist. Obama will not be getting my vote, because regardless of his campaign rhetoric, his platform is in fact the same capitalist, pro-corporation shit that I see every four years. I thought for a short while that he may be different (though not socialist by any means), but suddenly he's changed from wanting to throw out NAFTA and CAFTA to this vague notion of "renegotiation." He also voted for the FISA bill and telecom immunity. None of that represents anything but the same old shit that I've come to expect from our bought and paid for government.
Now a little lesson for you. Socialism is not a welfare state. Socialism is democratic control of the economy under the people who perform the real work and provide us with everything we have: the workers. Nothing more, nothing less. Any enactment of socialism would require a permanent revolution at this point, due to how deep these multinational corporations have burrowed themselves into governments all over the world.
So let me tell you, as a socialist, that the idea of Obama being some sort of Marxist savior for the working classes in this country is, in short, fucking laughable.
"We may face a scorched and lifeless earth, but they're accountable to their shareholders first."
Creationism is a philosophy of ignorance. Ignorance has no place in a class dedicated to discovery.
Evolution:
Intelligent Design:
No recent discoveries, no predictions, no evidence, no tests that we can perform on it.
The roots of Intelligent Design mostly point to Michael Behe, a biochemist. What did he discover? Nothing. He looked at the discoveries of others, gave them a cursory analysis, and declared that God must have done it. Do discoveries, no predictions, and as far as he is concerned no falsifiability tests. God did it. That's final.
Then some folks actually took a look, discovered that the structures Behe asserted were irreducibly complex in fact were easily reducible. Any retraction from Behe? No. He had made up his mind, and no evidence to the contrary will sway him.
So I quote again, "Science is a philosophy of discovery. Creationism is a philosophy of ignorance." - Neil deGrasse Tyson
- I don't need to go outside, my CRT tan'll do me just fine.
That's ridiculous. Put them side by side. She has a B.A. in journalism from U. Idaho. He has a Harvard Law degree. After college, she spent three years as a sports reporter and fisherman. He spent three years as a community organizer in Chicago. Since then, he's been in the Illinois State Senate and the U.S. Senate. She's been the mayor of a village with a population under 8000 people. For (less than) the past two years she's been governor of Alaska. Did I leave anything out? What a joke.
It is not even funny that there are people out there still arguing about this.
Our knowledge about vaccination, antibiotics, genetically modified crops and pure dog breeds are firmly based in the fact that species evolve by natural selection.
This is something observable today, I will not even touch the fossil record since some people don't have the mental capacity to understand why this is fact as well.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
The point isn't that Obama will attack her experience. It's that McCain can no longer attack Obama's.
As Digby once said, "conservatives are people who are in good graces with other conservatives, until they're not - then they're liberal." So every time conservatism fails, people proclaim that the conservatives in charge weren't "real" conservatives after all.
And yes, conservatism has completely and utterly failed America. Deregulation, tax cuts for the wealthy and slashing social services for the sake of deregulation, tax cuts for the wealthy, and slashing social services has been a disaster.