Is Palin failin' ? or OMG McCain wins with Palin !! pt. 4

[JOFO]

Does she know what the First Amendment is and exactly who can take it away?

Dick Cheney, right?

 

[Vincent Vega]

boston.com

Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor October 31, 2008 10:02 AM

Sarah Palin continues to draw enthusiastic crowds, usually bigger than her running mate's, but there are new signs that her selection as the Republican vice presidential nominee is backfiring.

A New York Times/CBS News poll published today found that increasing numbers of voters have doubts about Palin's readiness; 59 percent of voters said she was not qualified to be vice president, and nearly a third said the candidates' VP picks would be a major factor in their vote.

And former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, whose endorsement John McCain has brandished to rebut Colin Powell's support of Barack Obama, strayed way off message.

In an interview Thursday with National Public Radio, Eagleburger was asked whether Palin could assume the presidency during a crisis.

"It is a very good question," he said before pausing and adding with a chuckle: "I'm being facetious here. Look, of course not."

"I don't think at the moment she is prepared to take over the reigns of the presidency. I can name for you any number of other vice presidents who were not particularly up to it either. So the question, I think, is can she learn and would she be tough enough under the circumstances if she were asked to become president, heaven forbid that that ever takes place?

"Give her some time in the office and I think the answer would be, she will be [pause] adequate. I can't say that she would be a genius in the job. But I think she would be enough to get us through a four year... well I hope not... get us through whatever period of time was necessary. And I devoutly hope that it would never be tested."

They all, including Eagleburger, need a lecture by Strongbow... not ready/qualified for the job.

 

[anitram]

I keep telling you people that Sarah Palin is genuinely stupid.

I don't know why we have to couch it in polite terms.

 

[martha]

I keep telling you people that Sarah Palin is genuinely stupid.

And, like most of the stupid, she's proud of it.

 

[U2isthebest]

Because she's a woman. We'll just call it reverse sexism. If she was a man, nobody would have any qualms about calling her Dan Quayle II: Electric Bugaloo. And that's probably an insult to the intelligence of Danny Boy.

 

[Night & Day]

I am so sorry for this being kind of off topic, I don't know where to ask this, but where is the thread that had the dancing kids singing a song about Obama?
It is in one of the FYM threads, presidential, I think. (thats why I am asking it here)
They were in school uniforms, totally rockin' it out.
I went through all my subscribed threads, and cannot find it.

 

[anitram]

And, like most of the stupid, she's proud of it.

I am very happy that Obama called them out and said that these people are proud of being ignorant.

I don't care one iota about what STING peddles here - the Republican party has become anti-intellectual, anti-curiosity, where ignorance and stupidity are positive qualities to aspire to, and going to the best schools on scholarships and merit are worthy of sneering at.

My one set of grandparents was the definition of elites, both had PhDs, when that was still not particularly common for women of my grandmother's era. My other set were farmers, and my grandmother who only finished the 5th grade worked multiple jobs her entire life to make sure that her children and grandchildren would be as educated as possible. If she could see now what is going on, she would be horrified.

 

[yolland]

What Palin's argument(?) really reminded me of is this one white supremacist organization, can't recall its name right now, that every year in the spring submits a long, rambling Holocaust-denial 'opinion piece' to various college newspapers around the country, along with a letter complaining about how their opinion has been 'suppressed,' i.e. rejected, by many papers, and how they hope the present one will be brave enough to stand up for 'our First Amendment rights' by running the piece. And every year there are a few papers that print it, usually with some convoluted disclaimer to the effect of 'While we find this piece deeply offensive and suspect many readers will too, we feel it's critical that we take a stand in favor of everyone's right to freely express their opinions, no matter how unpopular.' My undergrad school's paper did this, a couple colleges here in Indiana did it a few years ago too. It always makes me smack my forehead in disbelief that any college newspaper editor could be dumb enough to fall for this garbage--sure, the First Amendment protects newspapers' rights to run such pieces, and it also protects this organization's right to write them, but it does NOT obligate newspapers to run them lest they too be guilty of 'violating' the authors' First Amendment rights! Either you consider this a deeply controversial but ultimately meritorious piece that deserves to be heard by your readers, or you don't--run it on the former logic if you like, but please, none of this bullshit about how you find this piece so deeply offensive, yet precisely for that reason you feel compelled to take a courageous stand in support of the First Amendment by printing it. Now I'm not comparing Palin's actual criticism of Obama's "associations" to a Holocaust denial argument, but the way her words today seemed to suggest that criticism from columnists and reporters somehow constitutes a threat to her First Amendment rights, I couldn't help being reminded of this organization's self-servingly twisted 'logic'.

 

[martha]

They may be some of her constituents.

 

[indra]

I am so sorry for this being kind of off topic, I don't know where to ask this, but where is the thread that had the dancing kids singing a song about Obama?
It is in one of the FYM threads, presidential, I think. (thats why I am asking it here)
They were in school uniforms, totally rockin' it out.
I went through all my subscribed threads, and cannot find it.

It's the "you can vote for whoever you want" or something like that, right? It's in the blogs.

Unico's blog, I think.

 

[kellyahern]

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

That statement is so stupid and defying in logic that it makes my brain hurt.

 

[VintagePunk]

I hope they're not holding their breath.


adn.com | Alaska Politics Blog : Gail Phillips, Chancy Croft want apology from McCain over Monegan, Alaskans

Gail Phillips, Chancy Croft want apology from McCain over Monegan, Alaskans

From David Hulen in Anchorage -

Here's a letter written earlier this week to Sen. John McCain from former Alaska House Speaker Gail Phillips, a Republican from Homer, and former Alaska Senate President Chancy Croft, a Democrat from Anchorage. Phillips e-mailed it to news media today. They ask for an apology "from your campaign to Alaskans and our former Commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan."

No response from the campaign.

Here's the letter:

October 28, 2008

Honorable Senator John McCain
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215

Dear Senator McCain:

We are writing because we believe an apology is owed from your campaign to Alaskans and our former Commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan. As former legislative leaders of both major political parties in Alaska, we haven’t always agreed upon political issues. However, we adamantly agree that Mr. Monegan, who is well respected in Alaska by people of all party affiliations, is owed an apology. The attacks against Commissioner Monegan for his role in administering a personnel issue, now known statewide as “Troopergate”, were unwarranted and wrong. Mr. Monegan is a former U.S. Marine, a front-line police officer, was Chief of Police in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, served as our State’s Commissioner of Public Safety and served both Republicans and Democrats with professionalism and honor.

This summer Governor Palin fired Mr. Monegan as Commissioner, which was within her purview. However, in July, the Legislature, through unanimous action by the bi-partisan Legislative Council, voted to investigate Commissioner Monegan’s termination and whether his refusal to fire Trooper Wooten played a role in his termination. The investigation had nothing to do with your campaign.

After Governor Palin was named as your running mate, your campaign stepped into the fray. In an effort to discredit and stop the bi-partisan legislative investigation into whether or not Governor Palin acted improperly in seeking the termination of her former brother-in-law, Trooper Wooten, your campaign engaged in a near-daily course of personal attacks against Mr. Monegan and members of the legislature. It’s obvious to many of us that you probably were not aware of these attacks by your campaign committee; however, since the final responsibility is yours, we feel Mr. Monegan is owed an apology from you.

In an effort to halt the bi-partisan investigation, your campaign staff tried to vilify Commissioner Monegan. Before Governor Palin was selected to your presidential ticket, she had agreed to the investigation; she publicly said it was justified and that she and her staff would cooperate with the investigation. She stated to the press that the public had a right to be concerned whether or not her administration may have placed improper pressure on the State Department of Public Safety to fire her former brother-in-law.

Following Governor Palin’s selection as your running mate, your campaign sent staff to Alaska to try to stop the investigation that Governor Palin had previously agreed to. Your campaign staff accused the legislative action as partisan in spite of the fact that the unanimous vote of the Legislative Council was bi-partisan.

Your campaign accused Mr. Monegan of being a “rogue”, of being insubordinate and other defamatory statements. To justify your involvement in this Alaskan issue and the Governor’s termination of Commissioner Monegan, your campaign continually changed the excuses for his termination. The various and changing excuses given by your campaign speaks clearly to the lack of credibility in its involvement.

Despite your campaign’s efforts to stop the investigation in court, and by public pressure, the investigation was recently completed. On October 10th the investigative report was released and the independent investigator, Steve Branchflower, concluded that the Governor had violated the State’s Executive Ethics statute by pressuring for the termination of Mr. Wooten from his position as an Alaskan State Trooper. The investigation also found that one of the probable reasons Commissioner Monegan was terminated was his refusal to fire the Governor’s former brother-in-law.

We acknowledge the authority the Governor has for terminating Commissioners; however, your campaign’s interference into this State matter and attempts to discredit Commissioner Monegan for campaign purposes is very troubling. Both the vilification of Mr. Monegan and the attempts by your campaign to stop the investigation were wrong.

We respectfully request an apology from your campaign to Mr. Monegan. He is a good man who has put his life on the line for Alaskans many times and he deserves better treatment from you and your campaign. Not only have the personal attacks from your campaign deeply affected and hurt the Monegan family, but also the people of Alaska who care and respect Mr. Monegan.

Sincerely,

Gail Phillips
Former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives

Chancy Croft
Former President of the Alaska State Senate

 

[Night & Day]

It's the "you can vote for whoever you want" or something like that, right? It's in the blogs.

Unico's blog, I think.

double

Thank you Indra.

 

[Irvine511]

What Palin's argument(?) really reminded me of is this one white supremacist organization, can't recall its name right now, that every year in the spring submits a long, rambling Holocaust-denial 'opinion piece' to various college newspapers around the country, along with a letter complaining about how their opinion has been 'suppressed,' i.e. rejected, by many papers, and how they hope the present one will be brave enough to stand up for 'our First Amendment rights' by running the piece. And every year there are a few papers that print it, usually with some convoluted disclaimer to the effect of 'While we find this piece deeply offensive and suspect many readers will too, we feel it's critical that we take a stand in favor of everyone's right to freely express their opinions, no matter how unpopular.' My undergrad school's paper did this, a couple colleges here in Indiana did it a few years ago too. It always makes me smack my forehead in disbelief that any college newspaper editor could be dumb enough to fall for this garbage--sure, the First Amendment protects newspapers' rights to run such pieces, and it also protects this organization's right to write them, but it does NOT obligate newspapers to run them lest they too be guilty of 'violating' the authors' First Amendment rights! Either you consider this a deeply controversial but ultimately meritorious piece that deserves to be heard by your readers, or you don't--run it on the former logic if you like, but please, none of this bullshit about how you find this piece so deeply offensive, yet precisely for that reason you feel compelled to take a courageous stand in support of the First Amendment by printing it. Now I'm not comparing Palin's actual criticism of Obama's "associations" to a Holocaust denial argument, but the way her words today seemed to suggest that criticism from columnists and reporters somehow constitutes a threat to her First Amendment rights, I couldn't help being reminded of this organization's self-servingly twisted 'logic'.

the creationists do this too. and the ex-gay crowd.

 

[Harry Vest]

I keep telling you people that Sarah Palin is genuinely stupid.

I don't know why we have to couch it in polite terms.

And George W. Bush, who was your President for eight years isn't?????

 

[Diemen]

anitram is Canadian.

 

[anitram]

anitram is Canadian.

I have dual citizenship, one of which is indeed, Canadian.

 

[Harry Vest]

You didn't answer the question. Let me ask it again.

And George W. Bush, who was the President of the United States for 8 years isn't???

 

[anitram]

You didn't answer the question. Let me ask it again.

And George W. Bush, who was the President of the United States for 8 years isn't???

I thought it was a pointless question.

Yes, George Bush was another such unintelligent, uncurious person. You'd think that would be reason enough to forever reject the notion of electing individuals that you'd like to have a beer with, rather than embracing ignorance like it's some kind of virtue.

 

[Diemen]

You didn't answer the question. Let me ask it again.

And George W. Bush, who was the President of the United States for 8 years isn't???

I don't recall anyone here, who is currently claiming Sarah Palin is stupid, claiming that George Bush was an especially smart man.

 

[BoMac]

As if I wasn't enough, here's another reason to love Montreal.

Quebec pair prank Palin with faux-Sarkozy phone call


CTV.ca News Staff

Two notorious Quebec comedians have pranked Sarah Palin, tricking the Republican vice-presidential nominee into thinking she was speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a Saturday afternoon phone call.

"Oh my God, seriously, it's probably the biggest we've ever done," Marc-Antoine Audette, a member of comedy duo The Masked Avengers, told CTV.ca Saturday afternoon.

During the nearly seven-minute chat, the conversation ranges from politics to hunting with vice-president Dick Cheney.

The topics also touch on Palin's political future -- a sensitive topic for some of John McCain's campaign staffers, who have suggested Palin is already looking at a presidential run in the next four years.

"I see you as a president one day, too," says one of the pranksters to Palin.

"Maybe in eight years," she responds.

The duo, who have a regular show on Montreal radio station CKOI, have also made prank calls over their 10-year history to celebrities like Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, Britney Spears and Sarkozy himself.

"We have such great respect for you," Palin tells the Sarkozy impersonator during the conversation. "John McCain and I, we love you and thank you ..."

The impersonator also says he has been closely following the U.S. election through his special advisor "Johnny Hallyday," the French pop icon. He also refers to "Canadian Prime Minister Stef Carse."

Speaking to CTV.ca, Audette later claimed that Palin "didn't know who the prime minister of Canada was." But the prankster spoke quickly during the conversation with Palin, and it's unclear whether she heard the fake name clearly. As governor of Alaska, Palin has worked closely with Canadian officials.

At another point in the chat, the impersonator says in a fake Parisian accent that the pair might use a helicopter to go hunting.

"We should go hunting together," replies Palin. "We can have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done. We could kill two birds with one stone."

But when the fake Sarkozy makes a joke that they shouldn't extend the invitation to vice-president Dick Cheney, Palin says, "I'll be a careful shot."

In 2006, Cheney accidentally shot and injured a friend during a bird hunting trip.

The conversation also touches upon Sarkozy's model-singer wife Carla Bruni.

"You've added a lot of energy to your country with that beautiful family of yours," says Palin.

"Give her a big hug for me."

Nearing the end of the conversation, the impersonator tells Palin she's been "pranked," and an aide quickly cuts off the conversation.
Later in the day, a spokeswoman for Palin emailed politico.com, a blog dedicated to U.S. politics, and confirmed that the chat had taken place.

"Gov. Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy, and other celebrities in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie," Tracey Schmitt in the email.

Starting with persistent phone calls to Alaska, Audette said it took the duo -- which also includes Sebastien Trudel -- about four days of phone calls to Palin's handlers to finally get in touch with her.

 

[VintagePunk]

As if I wasn't enough, here's another reason to love Montreal.

I was just coming here to post that!

YouTube - Sarah Palin Got Pranked

 

[BoMac]

I was just coming here to post that!

You were coming here to post that there's more reasons than just me to love Montreal?

 

[VintagePunk]

Haha!

Is it wrong that I felt a *tiny* bit bad for her? She seemed so excited. And in all fairness, the guy was speaking so fast and with such a thick accent that I can completely see her not understanding a great deal of what he said, hence her apparent agreement with crazy statements.

At least her and her handlers seemed to have a sense of humour about it.

 

[toscano]

Haha!

Is it wrong that I felt a *tiny* bit bad for her? She seemed so excited. And in all fairness, the guy was speaking so fast and with such a thick accent that I can completely see her not understanding a great deal of what he said, hence her apparent agreement with crazy statements.

At least her and her handlers seemed to have a sense of humour about it.

Yes, it's wrong.

There were MANY places where it was obvious it wasn't Sarkozy....."Johnny Halladay"......"my wife is hot in bed"...."Marcel the guy with bread under his arm"...."I love to kill the animals"......etc

She is SUCH a dumbass.........

 

[VintagePunk]

Yes, it's wrong.

There were MANY places where it was obvious it wasn't Sarkozy....."Johnny Halladay"......"my wife is hot in bed"...."Marcel the guy with bread under his arm"...."I love to kill the animals"......etc

She is SUCH a dumbass.........

I'm Canadian (albeit one who lives in a mostly English area) and I probably hear far more French accents than a typical American does, and yet I had trouble understanding some of what he was saying. And that's while listening to a fairly clean recording, as opposed to hearing it over a phone line, the way that she did.

There are many, many things that she can legitimately be criticized about. IMO, this isn't one of them.

 

[martha]

Prank phone calls are best done by 10-year-olds.

Because people should outgrow them at 11.

 

[BoMac]

I'm Canadian (albeit one who lives in a mostly English area) and I probably hear far more French accents than a typical American does, and yet I had trouble understanding some of what he was saying. And that's while listening to a fairly clean recording, as opposed to hearing it over a phone line, the way that she did.

There are many, many things that she can legitimately be criticized about. IMO, this isn't one of them.

Really? I understood each and every word that was said.

 

[Irvine511]

And George W. Bush, who was your President for eight years isn't?????

this strikes me as exactly the point.

 

[toscano]

I'm Canadian (albeit one who lives in a mostly English area) and I probably hear far more French accents than a typical American does, and yet I had trouble understanding some of what he was saying. And that's while listening to a fairly clean recording, as opposed to hearing it over a phone line, the way that she did.

There are many, many things that she can legitimately be criticized about. IMO, this isn't one of them.

I'm in the US, don't hear French accents every day, and understood every word clearly.

I did take French in high school, and hear foreign accents every day due to the line of my work I'm in (usually Chinglish or Korenglish) so maybe that's why, but I had no problem understanding every word.

Funny how much she kept saying they love him, what ? Neocons are now eschewing Freedom Fries ? SOCIALISTS!!!!!