Is Palin failin' ? or OMG McCain wins with Palin !! pt. 3

[Irvine511]

 

[Irvine511]

oooh, look. Sarah's calling for a new war!

But Iran is not only a regional threat; it threatens the entire world. It is the no. 1 state sponsor of terrorism. It sponsors the world's most vicious terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. Together, Iran and its terrorists are responsible for the deaths of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, and in Iraq today. They have murdered Iraqis, Lebanese, Palestinians, and other Muslims who have resisted Iran's desire to dominate the region. They have persecuted countless people simply because they are Jewish.

Iran is responsible for attacks not only on Israelis, but on Jews living as far away as Argentina. Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are part of Iran's official ideology and murder is part of its official policy. Not even Iranian citizens are safe from their government's threat to those who want to live, work, and worship in peace. Politically-motivated abductions, torture, death by stoning, flogging, and amputations are just some of its state-sanctioned punishments.

It is said that the measure of a country is the treatment of its most vulnerable citizens. By that standard, the Iranian government is both oppressive and barbaric. Under Ahmadinejad's rule, Iranian women are some of the most vulnerable citizens.

If an Iranian woman shows too much hair in public, she risks being beaten or killed.

If she walks down a public street in clothing that violates the state dress code, she could be arrested.

But in the face of this harsh regime, the Iranian women have shown courage. Despite threats to their lives and their families, Iranian women have sought better treatment through the "One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws." The authorities have reacted with predictable barbarism. Last year, women's rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 20 lashes and 10 months in prison for committing the crime of "propaganda against the system." After international protests, the judiciary reduced her sentence to "only" 10 lashes and 36 months in prison and then temporarily suspended her sentence. She still faces the threat of imprisonment.

Earlier this year, Senator Clinton said that "Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is in the forefront of that" effort. Senator Clinton argued that part of our response must include stronger sanctions, including the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. John McCain and I could not agree more.

Senator Clinton understands the nature of this threat and what we must do to confront it. This is an issue that should unite all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Period. And in a single voice, we must be loud enough for the whole world to hear: Stop Iran!

Only by working together, across national, religious, and political differences, can we alter this regime's dangerous behavior. Iran has many vulnerabilities, including a regime weakened by sanctions and a population eager to embrace opportunities with the West. We must increase economic pressure to change Iran's behavior.

Tomorrow, Ahmadinejad will come to New York. On our soil, he will exercise the right of freedom of speech — a right he denies his own people. He will share his hateful agenda with the world. Our task is to focus the world on what can be done to stop him.

We must rally the world to press for truly tough sanctions at the U.N. or with our allies if Iran's allies continue to block action in the U.N. We must start with restrictions on Iran's refined petroleum imports.

We must reduce our dependency on foreign oil to weaken Iran's economic influence.

We must target the regime's assets abroad; bank accounts, investments, and trading partners.

President Ahmadinejad should be held accountable for inciting genocide, a crime under international law.

We must sanction Iran's Central Bank and the Revolutionary Guard Corps — which no one should doubt is a terrorist organization.

Together, we can stop Iran's nuclear program.

Senator McCain has made a solemn commitment that I strongly endorse: Never again will we risk another Holocaust. And this is not a wish, a request, or a plea to Israel's enemies. This is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us. It is John McCain's promise and it is my promise.

on to Tehran!

 

[deep]

OMG, You're totally right,

How many times did we hear Jesus was a community organizer?




Sarah is closer to being a Lincoln

Than a certain community organizer is to being Jesus Christ.*



*I know this is hard to believe.

 

[Irvine511]

How many times did we hear Jesus was a community organizer?

not many times. not at all. certainly not by me. not by anyone in here.

seems to me like this is quite a

 

[deep]

ok

where is the cheer leader picture ?

 

[deep]

not many times. not at all. certainly not by me. not by anyone in here.

seems to me like this is quite a

That picture (this one, before you changed it ) would make a good Palin campaign piece.

Kind of gets one

fired up and ready to go.

 

[Irvine511]

That picture (the cheer leaded, before you changed it) would make a good Palin campaign piece. [/I][/B]

it was just too big, i thought it was distracting.

 

[phillyfan26]

This cracks me up, because I'm immature.

 

[Strongbow]

OMG, You're totally right, Sting! The world today (including the political, economic and security landscape) is soooooo much like the world of Lincoln's time! Like how it could take weeks for foreign heads of state to actually make it to America, and then the days of travel it might take for them get to Illinois from the coast.

You showed me!

So in what year did it first become important that a candidate for Vice President or President had met a foreign head of state?

 

[Lila64]

I thought this was interesting. On CNN's website (Larry King section)

The quick vote poll for today is:

Quick Vote
What do you think of Sarah Palin now?

I like her more 20% - 5244
I like her less 80% - 21550

Total Votes: 26794

 

[Dreadsox]

So in what year did it first become important that a candidate for Vice President or President had met a foreign head of state?

Well, we are pretty darn sure Presdent Bush interefered with the Iranian hostage situation helping get Reagan elected in 80. Well at least the conspiracy nut inside of me is.

 

[yolland]

.

What small-town America thinks of Sarah Palin

By Dan Hoyle
Salon, Sep. 22


...In dozens of interviews across battleground states in the Midwest and Mountain West, where I've been traveling the last couple of weeks, voters' reactions to Palin were at times surprising. There were plenty of predictable responses: From Palin devotees, "She's got the balls and the moxie," and from across the divide, "She's less qualified than Spiro Agnew." But toward the center of the continuum, where most expect this tight presidential race to be won or lost, views of Palin were more complicated. Women identified with the no-nonsense "sports mom" but were turned off by her hard-line views on abortion. Some voters found her far more exciting than either McCain or Barack Obama, but said she was wrong about gay marriage. Some said they ultimately couldn't go for a candidate so ignorant about foreign policy. Some thought she was just plain "hot."

Although much has been made of Palin's appeal to social conservatives, she has also excited many socially moderate swing voters who have been turned off by Obama, but also are unimpressed with McCain. Many voters seemed to define Palin exactly as the GOP has hoped--a "mom, moose-hunter, maverick," as depicted in her video biography played at the convention.

Clearly, the Alaska governor's charisma and highly glossed image have made a splash. At the laundromat in Luverne, Minn., Gerald Hayman, 48, who used to work for a company that picks up and disposes of dead farm animals, but is currently unemployed, shared his opinions while folding his clothes. Hayman doesn't like McCain's talk of an open-ended commitment in Iraq, and fondly remembers the way "Bill Clinton brought the economy up," so he'd been leaning toward punching the Democratic ticket. But Palin has made him rethink that choice. "She don't mind stepping on people's toes, and maybe Washington needs that," Hayman said. He added, "And she's got a pretty nice pair of legs on her." At the Powder River Stockman's Club in Broadus, Mont., a town of 451 people with no less than three taxidermists, S. Samuelson, 55, a second-generation rancher, tips his cowboy hat, nods and says: "She's hot." Between tales of breaking horses and negotiating the sale of calves, Samuelson admitted that he was very impressed by Palin, and said he even wished that she was running for president instead of McCain, whom he doesn't like. Exuding the "live and let live" philosophy common in Big Sky Country, he didn't share Palin's zeal against abortion and gay marriage--"I don't care what they do"--but he saw Palin as "kind of a fighter, who ain't scared to shake stuff up." That will probably win his vote, Samuelson said.

But at Stroker's Tavern in Huntley, Mont., John Cook, a Republican, saw it differently. "Palin is great for Alaska--I'm enamored with her," said Cook, 58, who is a carpenter. "But being governor of Alaska, a rural state like Montana, it's still small-town politics. It doesn't prepare you for national politics. There are 20 cities in this country that have more people than Alaska!"

Near Keystone, S.D., the base of Mount Rushmore National Monument was an apt place to gauge the power of Palin mania. One way or the other, the November election will put a definitive crack in the white male monolith of the American presidency, as seen in the four 60-foot faces towering above. Here, Americans from all over pull up in their cars, trucks and R.V.s, and, not least because of gas prices, there was no shortage of opinions about the fraught presidential race. "She'll put a match under McCain's butt!" huffed Gertrude Burke, 84, of Winslow, Mo. Her daughter Mary Burke, 62, shared her excitement, voicing common admiration of Palin as "down-to-earth, a mother, an outdoors woman...and very well educated." At this her husband, Ken Burke, 64, piped in half-jokingly: "She has to be well educated, she's been to five different colleges!" Although Mary Burke is pro-choice, since the introduction of Palin she said she is now leaning toward the Republican ticket.

Some former supporters of Hillary Clinton expressed excitement about Palin--but gender was secondary. To them, she seems a fresher, more maverick, more populist agent of change now than Obama (who has endured media scrutiny, including revelations and rumors about his past, for more than a year and a half). Although some don't share Palin's far-right positions on social issues, or weren't fully aware of them, they were willing to overlook that. Charles Kempf, 65, a retired maintainence worker, and Judy Kempf, 61, a retired office manager, are both lifelong Democrats from Mesquite, Nev. They said Palin's "eloquent, intelligent and down-to-earth" way of speaking reminded them of Bill Clinton. Former Hillary Clinton supporters, they strongly dislike Obama and said they were resigned to not voting at all this year. But now they might vote Republican for the first time: "[Palin] kinda relates to us commonfolk...she's got a family, she's got problems," as opposed to Obama, who "just talks above and is nothing but a script reader." They don't like Palin's strong pro-life stance, Charles Kempf said, but "you're not going to agree with everything, so you've got to overlook a few things."

Norla S., 62, a hospital administrator from Mankato, Minn, also a Hillary Clinton supporter in the primaries, is currently undecided. "I was so upset that Hillary worked so hard to get there, and then Palin comes in and whoop to the top," she said. She pondered this for a moment. "But if not [Palin], it's just the old-boys network again." Palin's small-town credentials appeal to Norla, although she has questions about Palin's experience. "But what the heck? A lot of people didn't have experience before they got in, and she's got a lot of good common sense."

But other voters, though taken by Palin's personality, appear less comfortable with her social politics, even in conservative regions such as northwestern Iowa. In the town of Le Mars--the "ice cream capital of the world" whose population of roughly 9000 was 97% white as of the 2000 census--Cathy, 56, a swing voter who had backed Hillary Clinton, admitted that Sarah Palin excites her. Between sips of soup at the Bellissimo Coffee Works, Cathy spoke of how, as a small-town mom, she identifies with Palin. But Palin's hard-line social views are a turnoff. "I really don't care about the gay marriage issue," she said. "I've known gay people all my life." Many younger voters expressed similar feelings about being put off by Palin. At Mount Rushmore, Republican voter Neal G., 23, currently an engineering and economics student at Ohio State University in Columbus, said he is "100% for gay marriage." Taken together with Palin's seeming "uninformed on a lot of issues," he said that he is now reluctant to vote for his party's ticket.

Some see the selection of Palin as a cynical move by McCain to court segments of the electorate in which his support was sagging. They think it will backfire. "I respected him before, but Sen. McCain will do anything to get elected," said Maureen K., 68, a university administrator from Pittsburgh. "And now with Palin, it's like American Idol replayed." Her husband, Ralph, 68, a computer programmer, and a Republican, reluctantly agreed. "As much as I hate it," he said, "I gotta vote for the Democrats." Carl B., 35, a naval officer also from Pittsburgh, said that "people find it insulting that they would pick Palin to pick up female votes." He said he will stick with his convictions and vote in November for libertarian candidate Bob Barr.

Palin's view of the world beyond Alaska has not gone unnoticed. Even some of those eager to see a woman in power are unimpressed. "When she was talking about foreign policy experience and said, 'I can see Russia from my backyard'--Ding! Ding!--that was enough for me," explained Pam Mueller, 64, of Grand Rapids, Mich., a former Hillary Clinton supporter. Mueller said she will stick with her party and vote for Obama. Gray Mayo, 70, from Northglenn, Colo., put it bluntly: "She should stay a sports mom. She's no Hillary."

With the meltdown on Wall Street and the economy weighing more than ever on the minds of Americans, how Palin fits into that picture remains murky. Jim Fitzsimmons, a swing voter from Denver, is struggling to pay the bills for his young family of five solely on his income in a retail job. But he's skeptical as to how much a president can change the economy. He said he's found Obama's campaign to be long on "grandiose talk of saving the world" and short on "the x, y, z of what he's going to do." He and his wife, Therese, said they believe that McCain and Palin stand for reform, and they're leaning toward voting for them. "McCain is part of that old boys network," said Therese, "but Palin is the counterbalance."

The economy deeply concerns Terri Christensen, 38, of Iowa, who owns a machine shop with her husband but also helps out at her parents' restaurant, the B&L cafe, in Rock Rapids, where Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John Edwards stumped during the primary races in January. "Our small machine shop has been tortured by the economy, but it's not important enough for the government to bail us out," said Christensen. Although she is leaning toward the Republican ticket, the pick of Palin surprised her, as such an unknown. "I just want someone who can actually get something done," said Christensen.

Joe Medley, 70, a retired teamster truck driver, identifies with Palin's husband Todd's working-class credentials as a union man and avid dog sledder. Medley has never voted Republican, but said he strongly dislikes Obama and has been excited enough by Palin to consider crossing party lines. With the economy sinking, he might have to come out of retirement, but he doesn't believe either party can do much to bail out America right now. "The Democrats have always done more for the working man," Medley said, "but I think we're so far in debt, it doesn't matter which person you put in there."

That mood may point to the ultimate test for the Palin pick in the six weeks ahead: Can the excitement she's generated help carry McCain through to victory, despite an economy tanking under a Republican administration? Although unfriendly stories about Palin's past continue to bubble up in the media, none seem to be sticking much with voters. If anything, they've endeared her more to some, who see her as a small-town mom getting beat up by a bloodthirsty press corps. If she can run the media gauntlet relatively unscathed--and if Obama and the Democrats fail to persuade voters they can turn the economy around--Sarah Palin may make history not only as America's first female vice president, but as an unlikely and unusually influential candidate.

 

[maycocksean]

Unfortunately, I think McCain's pick of Palin may have been the most brilliant move of this campaign.

 

[maycocksean]

How many foreign heads of state did Lincoln meet with before becoming President?

Hey, no fair! I've been using the Lincoln argument for months about Obama! You can't just come and steal it for Palin!

 

[Vincent Vega]

Unfortunately, I think McCain's pick of Palin may have been the most brilliant move of this campaign.

It was an all or nothing pick. I'm hopeful the latter will turn out to be the outcome.

 

[mobvok]

He said he's found Obama's campaign to be long on "grandiose talk of saving the world" and short on "the x, y, z of what he's going to do." He and his wife, Therese, said they believe that McCain and Palin stand for reform, and they're leaning toward voting for them. "McCain is part of that old boys network," said Therese, "but Palin is the counterbalance."

This reminds me of each candidate's response ads to the financial crisis earlier last week: McCain released a 30 second ad mocking Obama for being all talk, then concluded that we could trust McCain because he's faced tougher problems then this.

Obama released a detailed, 2 minute ad outlining specifics about what he'd do.

 

[Lila64]

From CNN

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's hometown required women to pay for their own rape examinations while she was mayor, a practice her police chief fought to keep as late as 2000.


A former Alaskan lawmaker says it seems unlikely that Gov. Sarah Palin was unaware of Wasilla's policy.

Former state Rep. Eric Croft, a Democrat, sponsored a state law requiring cities to provide the examinations free of charge to victims. He said the only ongoing resistance he met was from Wasilla, where Palin was mayor from 1996 to 2002.

"It was one of those things everyone could agree on except Wasilla," Croft told CNN. "We couldn't convince the chief of police to stop charging them."

Alaska's Legislature in 2000 banned the practice of charging women for rape exam kits -- which experts said could cost up to $1,000.

Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, often talks about her experience running Wasilla, population approximately 7,000, and that has prompted close scrutiny of her record there. Wasilla's practice of charging victims for their rape exams while she was mayor has gotten wide circulation on the Internet and in the mainstream media.

Some supporters of Palin say they believe she had no knowledge of the practice. But critics call it "outrageous" and question Palin's commitment to helping women who are the victims of violence.

For years, Alaska has had the worst record of any state in rape and in murder of women by men. The rape rate in Alaska is 2.5 times the national average.

Interviews and a review of records turned up no evidence that Palin knew that rape victims were being charged in her town. But Croft, the former state representative who sponsored the law changing the practice, says it seems unlikely Palin was not aware of the issue.

"I find it hard to believe that for six months a small town, a police chief, would lead the fight against a statewide piece of legislation receiving unanimous support and the mayor not know about it," Croft said.

During the time Palin was mayor of Wasilla, her city was not the only one in Alaska charging rape victims. Experts testified before the Legislature that in a handful of small cities across Alaska, law enforcement agencies were charging victims or their insurance "more than sporadically."

One woman who wrote in support of the legislation says she was charged for her rape exam by a police department in the city of Juneau, which is hundreds of miles from Wasilla.

But Wasilla stood out. Tara Henry, a forensic nurse who has been treating rape victims across Alaska for the last 12 years, told CNN that opposition to Croft's bill from Wasilla Police Chief Charlie Fannon was memorable.

"Several municipal law enforcement agencies in the state did have trouble budgeting and paying for the evidence collection for sexual assault victims," Henry said. "What I recall is that the chief of police in the Wasilla police department seemed to be the most vocal about how it was going to affect their budget."

Croft has a similar memory. He said victims' advocates suggested he introduce legislation as a way to shame cities into changing their practice, and Wasilla resisted.

"I remember they had continued opposition," Croft said. "It was eight years ago now, but they were sort of unrepentant that they thought the taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for that."

He does not recall discussing the issue with then-Mayor Palin.

The bill, HB270, was before the legislature for six months. In testimony, one expert called the practice of billing the victim "incomprehensible." Others compared it to "dust[ing] for fingerprints" after a burglary, only "the victim's body is the crime scene."

During a rape exam, the victim removes her clothing and a medical professional gathers DNA evidence from her body. There is also a medical component to assess her injuries. That component has led some law enforcement agencies to balk at paying.

Henry, the forensic nurse, said charging victims "retraumatizes them."

"Asking them to pay for something law enforcement needs in order to investigate their case, it's almost like blaming them for getting sexually assaulted," she said.

The Alaska Legislature agreed. The bill passed unanimously with the support of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, the Alaska Peace Officers Association and more than two dozen co-sponsors.

After it became law, Wasilla's police chief told the local paper, The Frontiersman, that it would cost the city $5,000 to $14,000 a year -- money that he'd have to find.

"In the past, we've charged the cost of the exams to the victim's insurance company when possible," Fannon was quoted as saying. "I just don't want to see any more burden on the taxpayer."

He suggested the criminals should pay as restitution if and when they're convicted. Repeated attempts to reach Fannon for comment were unsuccessful.

Judy Patrick, who was Palin's deputy mayor and friend, blames the state.

"The bigger picture of what was going on at the time was that the state was trying to cut their own budget, and one of the things that they were doing was passing on costs to cities, and that was one of the many things that they were passing on, the cost to the city," said Patrick, who recalls enormous pressure to keep the city's budget down.

But the state was never responsible for paying the costs of local investigations. Patrick was also a member of Wasilla City Council, and she doesn't recall the issue coming before council members, nor does she remember discussing the issue with Palin.

She does recall Palin going through the budget in detail. She said Palin would review each department's budget line by line and send it back to department heads with her changes.

"Sarah is a fiscal conservative, and so she had seen that the city was heading in a direction of bigger projects, costing taxpayers more money, and she was determined to change that," Patrick said.

Before Palin came to City Hall, the Wasilla Police Department paid for rape kits out of a fund for miscellaneous costs, according to the police chief who preceded Fannon and was fired by Palin. That budget line was cut by more than half during Palin's tenure, but it did not specifically mention rape exams.

In a statement, Jill Hazelbaker, communications director for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, said that "to imply that Gov. Palin is or has ever been an advocate of charging victims for evidence gathering kits is an utter distortion of reality."

"As her record shows, Gov. Palin is committed to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice," Hazelbaker said. "She does not, nor has she ever believed that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence gathering test."

Those who fought the policy are unconvinced.

"It's incomprehensible to me that this could be a rogue police chief and not a policy decision. It lasted too long and it was too high-profile," Croft said.

The rape kit charges have become an issue among Palin critics who say as governor she has not done enough to combat Alaska's epidemic problem of violence against women. They point to a small funding increase for domestic violence shelters at a time when Alaska has a multibillion-dollar budget surplus. Victims' advocates say that services are lacking and that Palin cut funding for a number of programs that treat female victims of violence.

 

[deep]

.

 

[yolland]

^ red x.


I don't think the rape kits story is likely to go much of anywhere, as there doesn't appear to be any hard evidence on whether and when Palin knew about that and what she might or might not have done about it. It does seem odd, though, that she hasn't released a statement actually addressing those questions. Shouldn't be hard to do.

 

[VintagePunk]

^ red x.


I don't think the rape kits story is likely to go much of anywhere, as there doesn't appear to be any hard evidence on whether and when Palin knew about that and what she might or might not have done about it. It does seem odd, though, that she hasn't released a statement actually addressing those questions. Shouldn't be hard to do.

Given what I've read about her and her style of leadership as mayor of Wasilla, and the size of the town, I'd be extremely surprised if she didn't know and condone it.

 

[Tiger Edge]

I heard on the news that Palin is meeting with Bahhhno today at the UN.

 

[U2Fanatic4ever]

^ yep... would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation or lack thereof..

 

[Irvine511]

This cracks me up, because I'm immature.

 

[Irvine511]

Given what I've read about her and her style of leadership as mayor of Wasilla, and the size of the town, I'd be extremely surprised if she didn't know and condone it.

were there gorillas in Alaska? because if there were, perhaps some of these women may have enjoyed it.

 

[VintagePunk]

were there gorillas in Alaska? because if there were, perhaps some of these women may have enjoyed it.

His attitudes about women have been well documented. They can't all be nasty rumours.

 

[Irvine511]

in reality, the issue with these rape kits is that they have the morning-after pill.

so, in the minds of some, they are nothing more than baby-murdering kits.

and taxpayers shouldn't have to fund murdering babies, right?

 

[VintagePunk]

Yes. Much better to assault the woman twice. That's the Wasilla way.

 

[Irvine511]

Yes. Much better to assault the woman twice. That's the Wasilla way.

why won't you think of the babies?

 

[VintagePunk]

Because I'm a dirty librul that hates babies and family values.

 

[Irvine511]

Because I'm a dirty librul that hates babies and family values.