Why do you hate Sarah Palin?

[SweetErika]

I found it weak when Biden said he'd sit in on every decision Obama ever makes. Like Obama needs a Daddy looking over his shoulder. Well, maybe he does. If Obama does have his eight years I hope this lady serves out her term and spends 6 years in the senate. She'll be a force. Biden and Hillary will be too old.

I find it reassuring that Obama wants to have his VP and a variety other knowledgeable people on hand to give him other perspectives (which he's said he'll take very seriously).

That's way better than having a puppet or maverick who does whatever his people tell him or is always certain he knows best and refuses to listen to opposing views and reason.

After the last eight years of crap, I'm grateful we're getting a president who will think, 'This isn't my area of expertise. I bet Joe/Hilary/Bill Richardson/Hagel/Bloomberg/etc. has some valuable insight for me, so I'm going to call them up and listen to their views.'

It's better to have many great minds working to solve problems than an idiot and a bunch of people who are pushing their selfish agendas running the show.

 

[midwestyankee]

I found it weak when Biden said he'd sit in on every decision Obama ever makes. Like Obama needs a Daddy looking over his shoulder. Well, maybe he does. If Obama does have his eight years I hope this lady serves out her term and spends 6 years in the senate. She'll be a force. Biden and Hillary will be too old.

Well, Dick Cheney sits in on every decision that George Bush makes. And he's even courteous enough to occasionally tell W what decisions he made.

 

[YourCaptor]

I hate her because if shes next in line for president, I will have to get off my ass and migrate to some other nation.

Seriously now, is there even a chance mccain will be elected?

 

[SweetErika]

I hate her because if shes next in line for president, I will have to get off my ass and migrate to some other nation.

Seriously now, is there even a chance mccain will be elected?

Sure there is. If enough people decide they're not going to vote because McCain has little/no chance, he will will win. The republicans have done a good job at getting out the vote at the last minute in the last two elections, and I have no doubt this one will be any different. Obama supporters just have to be better at it.

At this point, I'm confident Obama will win, but I think it'll likely be close enough that he could very well lose if we get complacent now.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

From ABC News:

Record Refutes Palin's Sudan Claim
Palin Administration Against Sudan Divestment Before It Was For It, Documents Show
By JUSTIN ROOD
October 3, 2008

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied to the country's brutal regime from the state's multi-billion-dollar investment fund, she claimed during Thursday's vice presidential debate.

Republican vice presidential candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks duringa vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008.

Not quite, according to a review of the public record – and according to the recollections of a legislator and others who pushed a measure to divest Alaskan holdings in Sudan-linked investments.

"The [Palin] administration killed our bill," said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage. Gara and state Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, co-sponsored a resolution early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund – a $40 billion investment fund, a portion of whose dividends are distributed annually to state residents – to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government.

In Thursday's debate, Palin said she had advocated the state divest from Sudan. "When I and others in the legislature found out that we had some millions of dollars [of Permanent Fund investments] in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars," Palin said.

But a search of news clips and transcripts from the time do not turn up an instance in which Palin mentioned the Sudanese crisis or concerns about Alaska's investments tied to the ruling regime. Moreover, Palin's administration openly opposed the bill, and stated its opposition in a public hearing on the measure.

"The legislation is well-intended, and the desire to make a difference is noble, but mixing moral and political agendas at the expense of our citizens' financial security is not a good combination," testified Brian Andrews, Palin's deputy revenue commissioner, before a hearing on the Gara-Lynn Sudan divestment bill in February. Minutes from the meeting are posted online by the legislature.

Gara says the lack of support from Palin's administration helped kill the measure. "I walked out of that hearing livid," Gara recalled of the February meeting. Because of the Palin administration's opposition to the bill, "We could not get a vote in that committee," he explained. At no point did Palin come out in support of the effort, Gara said.

The bill's Republican co-sponsor remembers things differently. "I know she was very strongly behind this," said Rep. Lynn. Asked why, if Palin supported the bill, one of her administration's officials would speak against it, Lynn demurred. "We don't all work in lockstep here," he said. "People have different opinions," he added.

Lynn said he and Palin agreed to re-introduce the bill next January, and push to pass it then. He declined to consider whether stronger support from Palin would have helped the bill survive this winter. "I'm not going to do this what if, what if, what if," he said. "These are hypotheticals."

Gara said that after it was clear the bill had stalled, he and others pressed the administration directly on Sudan divestment. "We were outraged," Gara recounted. "We went to the Commissioner of Revenue and said, 'What the hell are you guys doing? This is genocide. We're going to keep pushing this until we divest."

Two months later, at the end of the legislative session, the administration softened its position. Appearing before a Senate committee which was considering a companion measure to Gara's bill, Palin's Revenue commissioner, Patrick Galvin, stated the administration supported such a measure, though it hoped to amend the bill to allow for investments held indirectly, for example in index funds.

"At the last minute they showed up" and supported the divestment effort, Gara said. But by then the legislative session was almost over, and there wasn't enough time to get it passed.

The Alaska Permanent Fund currently holds $22 million in Sudan-linked investments, according to the non-profit Sudan Divestment Task Force. Divestment advocates say the fund does not need an act of the state legislature to divest itself of those holdings.

The McCain-Palin campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been a strong supporter of Sudan divestment efforts, and has urged Americans to liquidate their holdings in companies who do business there. He was criticized for that position when it was revealed in May his wife Cindy held $2 million in investment funds owning shares of Sudan-linked companies. She sold those holdings following a reporter's inquiries.​

Source link

 

[Sir_Winston54]

From Daily Kos (yeah, it's a liberal blog, but still...):

Updated: ABC News:
Palin flub on bankruptcy has McCain camp flailing
by awkward007
Fri Oct 03, 2008 at 06:05:15 AM PDT

As anyone who has followed the foreclosure crisis closely knows, there is currently a loophole in federal bankruptcy law that allows John McCain to protect his second through seventh homes and yachts and planes if he were to declare bankruptcy, but doesn't allow you and me to save our primary residence that we live in. Barack Obama has called for closing this loophole, Joe Biden has called for closing this loophole, and John McCain has defended it to benefit his banker buddies.

So, of course, I was thrilled last night to see Joe Biden press the McPalin ticket on this really important policy distinction, when he suggested that the GOP ticket opposed this important protection for homeowners. When Gwen Ifill pressed Palin on this point of whether she was opposed, she denied it, saying, "No, that is not so."

ABC News has this story this bombshell story up on their Political Radar blog, and the McCain campaign is already backtracking and trying to spin away Palin's answer, but it's revealing a deeper truth.

In reality, Palin didn't know what she was talking about and immediately pivoted to energy, even though she was asked about bankruptcy, just like she did all night. I am glad to see that progressive organizations are in rapid response mode and not going to let them get away with it.

ACORN, one of the leading organizations fighting against foreclosure, put out this statement last night, perhaps tongue-in-cheek welcoming her endorsement of their prize bill:

About 20 minutes into tonight's debate, Governor Sarah Palin demonstrated bipartisan appeal in endorsing Senator Biden's call for bankruptcy protections for primary residences. When Senator Biden called for bankruptcy shelter and suggested that Governor Palin likely opposed those protections, Gwen Ifill asked, "Governor Palin, is that so?" The Governor responded, "That is not so."

Both Senators Biden and Obama have supported the "Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act", which would close the loophole in current federal bankruptcy law that prevents primary residences from have their mortgages restructured by federal bankruptcy judges. Currently, second homes, seventh homes, and yachts are eligible for such restructuring, but not primary residences that are being lost at a record pace in the current foreclosure crisis.

ACORN welcomes Governor Palin's endorsement of this important provision, and hopes that this high-profile endorsement will encourage Senator McCain to change his mind and support this necessary change to assist America's struggling homeowners.​

Delicious. The ABC story includes the always-enjoyable line, "The McCain campaign confirms to ABC News that Palin misstated McCain's position."

This set up the real punchline in this story, which perfectly encapsulates not only how ignorant, but how tightly controlled by McCain operatives Palin is and will be as Vice President:

"Sarah was just being Sarah," ACORN's Charles Jackson told ABC News. "It's clear from the transcript that she supported the provision that Senator Biden brought up. We'll see if McCain's handlers will allow her to continue to hold that position tomorrow."

ZING! We have a winner. I hope Obama surrogates will push this message and further drive this wedge between Palin and McCain, as it represents so well the reality of her middling performance last night and her middling intellect.

UPDATE: This is my first rec-listed diary, can't thank everybody enough. Happily, more media are picking up on parts of this story.

From the Kansas City Star:

Palin, given a chance to respond to Biden's comments, again skirted the question. She came back to talking about America becoming "energy independent," which had absolutely nothing to do with the original question on bankruptcy laws.​

From the Detroit Free Press:

And at another point when the discussion turned to bankruptcy rules and how they might change to help keep homeowners from losing their homes, Palin started discussing her record on energy as Alaska’s governor.​

And a new update from ABC News, in which they "fact-check" Palin:

FACT: The Senate has voted only once this year on legislation that would change bankruptcy laws to help distressed homeowners. John McCain was absent for that vote. Contrary to what Palin says, the McCain campaign acknowledges that he does not support those changes to bankruptcy laws.​

This story can have legs because it hits on so many levels - John McCain is out of touch with struggling homeowners, Sarah Palin doesn't understand bankruptcy laws, and it reinforces her debating "style" of electing not to answer the questions!

Source link

 

[Sir_Winston54]

This cracked me up. It's a satire, 'Pubs, don't get all exercised. It's still funny to actually read.

Sarah Palin's FaceBook page

 

[Sir_Winston54]

A great quote from a Canadian blog:

".... [T]his is still a candidate with tremendous potential to not only stick a foot in her mouth but completely gnaw it off and suck dry the bones before realizing it’s her own."​

Source link

 

[midwestyankee]

A little fun with our favorite candidate with the you-betcha accent:

Palin's Fargo Interview

 

[Sir_Winston54]

And some more fun, in the spirit of BDSM (sorta, at least from the title):

Sarah Palin Spanked

 

[BeachGurl2]

How refreshing to see you pull your evidence from an unbiased source, WD.

Wait, has WD actually quoted an unbiased source in this thread? If so, I must have missed it.

They both lied. Most people accepted what their candidate said as true and immediately dismiss any claims that their candidate lost or lied as bias coming form the other camp. There is a difference in the lying though. Palin's lies tend to come more from misinformation given to her by her handlers and she is just regergatating their lies, or they stem from her lack of eperience. Joe's lies however were more of a direct personal nature and had intent to decieve. He throughout the debate played the "I was there" card, so as to gain credibility as being an eyewitness to events. It was clearly effective as so many who are biased accepted what he said without even think to question if what he was saying is true.

If we are going to elect the best and most expereinced liars, then Biden won that debate hands down. He out lied Palin almost 2 to 1. But if we examine the facts and stripe out the lies, then they are both left with very little substance.

Hmmm, RJ, I disagree that Palin's lies are from misinformation. But even if they are, in my opinion, they are even more frightening. Is she so gullible and uninformed that she isn't willing to check the information she's given? I don't think misinformation from her handlers is a good enough excuse. She regurgitates what she's told very well. But she has no clue what she's saying or talking about. That's much more frightening than her lies, in my opinion.

On Biden's side of things, there is no excuse for his lies either. But we all know that lying is a required skill if you're going to be a politician in this country. It's what they ALL do best. Every single one of them. So how do we, who value honesty, make a good choice when we go to the polls? We've allowed this to not only happen, but get worse and worse as times has gone on. Now we get to suffer the consequences.

My biggest problem with Palin isn't that she's corrupt and it isn't that she's inexperienced. It's that she has no freaking clue what she should be doing. She is a 'yes' person all the way. A puppet for whatever or whomever gives her the biggest payoff. And should McCain/Palin actually win, and something happens to McCain, she has absolutely no skill whatsoever for the job that will be before her. Frankly, that scares the shit out of me.

I'm going to be dead honest, and probably look shallow, but, after Bush The Lesser, I'm sick and damned tired of my country being represented by people that would embarrass me to be personally associated with.

I want some class for a change. Palin is Bush with tits.

I so agree with this statement. I was just having a conversation with a co-worker today about this exact subject. I'm sick and tired of being embarrassed by incredibly clueless and classless leaders. We suffered through Dan Quayle only to gain George Bush, and now they want to throw Palin at us. I cringe every time I think of her greating a foreign dignitary or presiding over a State dinner. She talked about presiding over Congress. I can't even begin to imagine . . .

I finally figured out what Sarah Palin reminds me of: Robin Williams doing his standard Russian immigrant: the accent and intonation are dead-solid perfect but the words actually don't mean shit.

Secondly, I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this little gem:

This was fabulous! Thanks for sharing.



----

On a totally irrelevant and petty tangent, did anyone else think that Palin should stop listening to Bush talk about all things 'nuculer'.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

On a totally irrelevant and petty tangent, did anyone else think that Palin should stop listening to Bush talk about all things 'nuculer'.

Then again, she did grow up (born 2/11/64) listening to Jimmy Carter (President, 1977-1981), who had begun training as a nuclear reactor officer (submarines), pronounce it "new-kew-ler."

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I'm sick and tired of being embarrassed by incredibly clueless and classless leaders. We suffered through Dan Quayle only to gain George Bush, and now they want to throw Palin at us. I cringe every time I think of her greating a foreign dignitary or presiding over a State dinner. She talked about presiding over Congress. I can't even begin to imagine . . .

Don't forget about the Shrub's daddy (GHWBush) puking on the Prime Minister of Japan at a state dinner in 1992. Oh, well, other than that, Bush the Oneth didn't do too badly in the embarrassment sweepstakes. Unless you count not getting the job done right in Iraq in 1991. If he had, we probably wouldn't have had half the problems we've had since 1/20/2001.

 

[WriterDom]

[COLOR=". Unless you count not getting the job done right in Iraq in 1991. If he had, we probably wouldn't have had half the problems we've had since 1/20/2001.[/COLOR]

Doing it right the first would probably involve occupying Iraq from 1991 to at least 2001 if not longer. You want to think that one through again?

 

[WriterDom]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081003/us_time/whysomewomenhatesarahpalin

She agrees. Only pretty girls like pretty girls.


And they are Mean Girls

 

[CutieMouse]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081003/us_time/whysomewomenhatesarahpalin

She agrees. Only pretty girls like pretty girls.


And they are Mean Girls

I don't dislike the woman for being pretty or confidant. I do think she's an embarrassment. Can you imagine Condoleeza Rice spending the debate doing to "gosh golly gee" *winky winky giggle* thing every time she opened her mouth?

 

[WriterDom]

Can I call you Vladimir? Okey dokey.

 

[JMohegan]

I hate her because if shes next in line for president, I will have to get off my ass and migrate to some other nation.

Seriously now, is there even a chance mccain will be elected?

It is a mistake to underestimate the power of the Republican attack machine, hatemongering rabid radio, fearmongering right-wing pastors, and good old-fashioned racism in this country.

The only thing McCain's got left is personal attack. If you want to help Obama, pay attention to what the people around you are saying - and arm yourself with sufficient information to Fight the Smears.

Ask like-minded eligible voters around you if they are registered. Help them to register if they are not. Think about what you can do to get people to the polls, or vote early if that's possible in your state. Remember, the ONLY tally that counts is the one that takes place on Election Day. Everything else is meaningless when it's all said and done.

 

[Netzach]

Don't forget about the Shrub's daddy (GHWBush) puking on the Prime Minister of Japan at a state dinner in 1992. Oh, well, other than that, Bush the Oneth didn't do too badly in the embarrassment sweepstakes. Unless you count not getting the job done right in Iraq in 1991. If he had, we probably wouldn't have had half the problems we've had since 1/20/2001.

Bush the elder looks like Teddy Roosevelt through these crapcolored glasses of nostalgia I've got on.

 

[Netzach]

It is a mistake to underestimate the power of the Republican attack machine, hatemongering rabid radio, fearmongering right-wing pastors, and good old-fashioned racism in this country.

The only thing McCain's got left is personal attack. If you want to help Obama, pay attention to what the people around you are saying - and arm yourself with sufficient information to Fight the Smears.

Ask like-minded eligible voters around you if they are registered. Help them to register if they are not. Think about what you can do to get people to the polls, or vote early if that's possible in your state. Remember, the ONLY tally that counts is the one that takes place on Election Day. Everything else is meaningless when it's all said and done.

Also, if there's an election watching org. near you - do what little you can.

We're now supposedly some kind of battleground state because a single poll from alexandria duluth and rochester affiliates has McCain up.

I've already got MY misleading RNC mailer.

 

[midwestyankee]

Wait, has WD actually quoted an unbiased source in this thread? If so, I must have missed it.

He cited the McCain campaign on a list of "lies" told by Biden during the debate.

<snip>


This was fabulous! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you.

----

On a totally irrelevant and petty tangent, did anyone else think that Palin should stop listening to Bush talk about all things 'nuculer'.

The Shrub is hardly the first politician to mangle this word, but he made it famous.

 

[Netzach]

I think I know what the october surpriiiiiise might be.

I think if it were Joe Biden the elephants in our room would be crying for his head on a plaaaaaate.....


tune in next. Thurs.

 

[Netzach]

He cited the McCain campaign on a list of "lies" told by Biden during the debate.




Thank you.

The Shrub is hardly the first politician to mangle this word, but he made it famous.

No no, be fair. Carter trademarked that one.

 

[JMohegan]

Also, if there's an election watching org. near you - do what little you can.

We're now supposedly some kind of battleground state because a single poll from alexandria duluth and rochester affiliates has McCain up.

I've already got MY misleading RNC mailer.

I thought of you when I saw the following at fivethirtyeight.



"But what's going on with Minnesota -- where SurveyUSA actually gives McCain a one-point lead?

The poll may be a mild outlier. SurveyUSA has generally shown more favorable numbers for John McCain in Minnesota than other agencies that have surveyed the state. But they aren't the only pollster to come up with numbers like this; Quinnipiac and the Star Tribune also show Minnesota close, although CNN and Rasmussen don't.

Markos Moulitsas has data on advertising expenditures that may explain the difference. Overall, in the week ended 9/30, Obama spent about 2.5x as much as John McCain on advertising. This is likely an underappreciated reason behind his recent polling surge. But in Minnesota, McCain outadvertised Obama better than 3:1. In fact, Minnesota was the only state in the entire country where McCain out-advertised Obama.

So McCain may literally have bought his way into a competitive race in Minnesota. It now rates as the 7th most important state in the election according to our tipping point metric, behind the traditional Big Three (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida), the New Two (Colorado, Virginia), and Michigan, which should probably now be scratched off the list.

It hasn't come cheaply, however, as McCain has now spent tens of millions of dollars on the state -- money that didn't go into Florida, or North Carolina, or Indiana, or Virginia, where Obama has had the advertising edge, and where the McCain campaign is now on its heels. Those are also resources that didn't go into Michigan, where McCain has withdrawn from.

So, yes, you can beat a state into submission if you really want to -- I mean, if Obama decided he really wanted to win South Dakota, he could probably do so. But whether it's been a good use of resources, we will have to see. In certain ways, this is starting to remind one a lot of the Herschel Walker trade. And Obama campaign is not exactly unready, leading McCain in field offices in Minnesota 28 to 9."

 

[JMohegan]

I think I know what the october surpriiiiiise might be.

I think if it were Joe Biden the elephants in our room would be crying for his head on a plaaaaaate.....


tune in next. Thurs.

What happens next Thursday?