Friday, August 29, 2008

McCain's Birthday Gift to Obama: Gov. Sarah Palin Jumping Out of the GOP's Campaign Cake


August 29, 2008. Mark it down for its historical significance. It's the day that Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party officially lost the presidential election. Chalk it all up to McCain's boneheaded decision to name Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.

Now don't get me wrong. Palin seems like a swell lady. I'm sure many of the 5500 citizens of Wasilla, where she was mayor from 1996-2002, or the 115,000 Alaskans who voted for her for Governor in '06, might have kind things to say. But really, who is Sarah Palin? On MSNBC Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a devout Republican, surprised many in her party by saying she doesn't know much about her. Give her points for honesty.

What we do know about Palin is that she's a soccer mom with five kids (two of them named Trig and Track...go figure), knows how to cheer on a youth hockey team, and probably looks great in a one-piece bathing suit (hey, I'm not being sexist; she's a 1984 "Miss Wasilla" and a 2nd place runner-up in the "Miss Alaska" beauty pageant). But wait, there's more. Prior to running the huge Metropolis of Wasilla, she served two terms on the City Council and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor. And, she's worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations. Hardly a stupendous resume, although she's clearly a big hit in many Alaskan circles.

But when the guy at the top of the ticket, at 72, would be the oldest president in U.S. history, and his health remains a concern given his battle with Melanoma, Palin would be more than a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. Is there any sane American who thinks Palin even remotely has the experience and readiness to be president? Commander-in-Chief? Leader of the free world? Is she who we'd want defending our citizens from terrorists and from our enemies abroad? She's so unqualified it's offensive. Her appointment is so inexplicably irrational that we should seriously begin to wonder if there's some sort of early senility settling in with McCain. And he doesn't help his own case when he's on record saying the only real qualification for vice president is whether that person can step in and be president. If he truly thinks Palin is that person, he's worse off than we think.

In one fell swoop McCain has taken the whole experience issue off the table. This had been a key weapon in his arsenal against Obama. Palin is younger than Obama, less experienced, has less national name recognition and zero foreign policy experience. The real take-away here is that in his first major "presidential" decision, McCain so clearly demonstrates poor judgement that it's obvious that it's he, not Palin, who should be nowhere near the Oval Office.

While Sean Hannity and company are trying their best to feign excitement over this disastrous appointment, they, like others in the party surprised by McCain's choice, seem horrified....if their manic, whiney defending of her is any indication. She's an utter nobody who also happens to be currently under investigation by the Alaska state legislature for allegations of abuse of power involving the controversial dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, who allegedly refused to fire Palin's ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper, who's involved in an ugly divorce with her sister. Gee, another Republican politician abusing her power for personal gain. What a shocker.

Indeed, I would not want to be a Republican today. As one of my oldest chums Brian, a rabid conservative, said earlier, "I think McCain is going to lose. Who the hell is this Alaska governor? I think your rock star is in." When the GOP's lost the Brian's of the party, so goes the election.

Palin's appointment has Democrats in a lather as well. As my very cute friend Jenny said, the 44-year-old nominee is a "pro life, NRA joining, beauty pageant losing, animal hunting, idol worshiping, pawn of the GOP fool." I believe she left off "ANWR-drilling." McCain's little lady sure does love her oil (have we ever met a Republican who doesn't?).

For McCain, it was a day of grandiose bullshit. Standing with his running mate, he told a kool-aid drunken crowd in Ohio that he was choosing Palin as his running mate the week of the 88th anniversary of women's suffrage. Ironic that both would like nothing more than to overturn Roe v Wade, depriving women of their right to choose an abortion. I guess that doesn't qualify as "suffrage." Obviously, simply being a woman does not mean that you represent the interests of women. McCain's feeble attempt to out-liberal the Democrats seems concocted by a bunch of clueless high-schoolers. As cute-Jenny asked incredulously, "can they be that stupid?" Yes, I think this time they are.

Lastly, just how much passion does Palin have for the job anyway? In an interview recently, the vice presidential nominee dissed her own prospective office: "As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration."

Don't worry, Sarah, fortunately for America, you're never gonna have to find out.


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53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Complacency is the greatest threat ....

Anonymous said...

Hey folks. we don't know if the NotSee Neocons are going to pull a false flag and cancel the election.

Maybe it doesn't matter who McCain picks, although this choice is ridiculous by all counts.

Athena Smith said...

It is stupid to even think she could attract the feminist vote.
Feminists are revolted by beauty contests as they promote nothing but sexism.

Feminists, regardless of their feelings towards abortion, are pragmatists, and would never try to legislate a regression to the Dark Ages and the back alley butchers.

Feminists would elect a "competent" woman, not any woman.

The only word that comes to mind is tokenism. If the lady were a man, can anybody truly believe that she would have been picked over the other candidates?

Sidney Condorcet said...

Athena, you are as wise as the goddess you are named for. The backlash against this pick should be awfully satisfying.

And as for an earlier thread, I don't think women should be relegated to child rearing. I just know that I'm personally offended at the seeming heartlessness of leaving an infant with special needs at home while you take one of the most demanding and time consuming jobs on the face of the earth. If the child were a bit older, it wouldn't be an issue. But FOUR MONTHS OLD!?! Heartless!!

Anonymous said...

As Dan Quayle was to George H. W. Bush, so will Sarah Palin be to John McCain.

Anonymous said...

mccain had to do something like this....in order to get attention away from obama's speech.....man, this has karl rove's fingerprints all over it....what rove wants is the american public to be distracted from the real issues of the day....britney and paris,rock star,william akers,etc from obama statement earlier today,he knows exactly what is going on...obama congradulated her and praised her historic rise....he did not talk about her inexperience at all,because EVERYBODY KNOWS SHE HAS NONE...all biden has to do is ...stick with the issues,don't talk about her experience....congradulate her and ...then tie her to bush\cheney\and rove......karl rove playbook is easy to read......

Anonymous said...

Sidney,
I know you a lawyer, but can you be any more of a slimeball scumbag ? Leave Palin's child out of this you piece of fecal matter. We are all aware that aborting babies is important to you, but Palin's child was not aborted and does not need to be brought into this discussion by scumbags like you.

Go back to claiming that she is inexperienced and please tell us how Obama's 140 days of Senate experience qualifies him to be President.

Anonymous said...

It's very simple. Palin is not running against Obama. Palin's "inexperience" is not nearly so serious as is the inexperience of the Presidential nominee, Obama. She will not have to be ready to be president on Day One as the President should be. (If the country had thought Biden were capable he would have received more than serveral thousand votes.) Should McCain not be able to finish his term, she will have insider experience plus the counsel of the experienced Cabinet McCain will appoint. Do you get it?

To Sidney: I read the comments in the previous blog you are referring to about Palin staying home to care for her Downs Syndrome baby. The response another commentator made is worth repeating. Obama voted not to protect the life of babies who survived failed abortions. One such case has been brought to public attention when a Downs Syndrome baby was left to die in a dirty supply room after surviving his mother's abortion. A nurse held the victim in her arms until he died. Medical help was not legal because of Obama's vote. The parents had chosen not to hold the dying child but to dump it. In fact, the baby was probably aborted because he had Downs Syndrome.

Palin has five children who look as though they are thriving. The son is ready to go fight in the war. I'm sure the new baby is getting the same love and attention Palin's other children got while their mother also had a career. Michelle, Hillary and other capable women are able to combine motherhood and careers, or survival jobs, which many single moms have to do. I don't hear much outrage about men deserting their families, Sidney.

Anonymous said...

OMG Palin has a scandal that is being investigated, involving her brother in law. She surely can't compete on that score with Obama who has benefited from countless relationships with crooks.

Anonymous said...

6:43 There is a range of views among feminists. Some are for all abortions including those just for birth control. If you can't afford, have more important things to do, your boyfriend says get an abortion, or the baby perhaps has Downs, then get an abortion.

There are others who approve abortions only in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

And there is another group that feels that abortion should only be used to save the life of the mother. arguing that the babies of rape or incest are innocent and deserve to live.

Those feminists who want restricted use of abortion would be willing to vote for McCain, given Obama's inexperience and flip-flopping.

Anonymous said...

McCain has checked-mated the Obama campaign They can't argue about her inexperience because of Obama's lack of experience and he's the one running for the top job in the world, and she is not.

She's a woman and all the Hillary people will vote for that ticket when the sexism starts again, which it will. Jack Cafferty was so passionate about dissing Palin he became seriously agitated.

The more Palin's investigated the more voters will be impressed with her strength in standing up against corruption and insider advantage in both parties.

All we have from Obama are promises we have no guarantee he will keep.

I'm a Democrat who puts country first.

Anonymous said...

man, that is why mccain picked her...so that all the men can start attacking her......thinking she would get more of hilliary's voters (women)......remember when hilliary "cried" in new hampshire...this is WHAT THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN WANTS...KARL ROVE's FINGERPRINTS ARE ALL OVER THIS PICK...and i hope most women don't fall for it...because mccain really did not want a woman on his ticket...you can take that to the bank !

Anonymous said...

10:13,

Are you dense? It was McCain's campaign that made the move of calling Obama inexperienced. Obama was not trumpeting his inexperience to be President, it was McCain. Now McCain has totally destroyed his argument, and that of the necessity to select someone for VP who would be ready on Day One, by selecting someone as his running mate whose primary experience in government is restricted to a town of 5500 people.

Frankly, Obama probably should have said nothing and just let the media laugh and shake their heads at the absurdity of it all.

What strength of standing against corruption are you talking about? Turns out Palin was "for" the "bridge to nowhere" before she was "against" it and Andy mentioned the state investigation she facing for abuse of power.

There is absolutely no way to spin this selection as putting the country first.

Anonymous said...

actually Palin went against her own party to fight corruption. Can you name a single example where Obama went against his party ?

Anonymous said...

i can name 1...i believed he voted for the FISA BILL....most democrats attacked him for that...remember ?

Anonymous said...

You believe he voted for the FISA Bill ??

If you are talking about S. 2248 (FISA Amendments Act of 2007 then YOU ARE WRONG

In that particular bill, Obama took his normal stance of not taking a stance. Obama did not vote for or against this bill. Only 3 of the 100 Senators did not vote for or against that particular bill, they are:

Clinton (D-NY)
Graham (R-SC)
Obama (D-IL)

OK, so try again. Can you name a single example where Obama went against his party for the good of the country ?

Anonymous said...

10:37,

So calling out individuals for ethical violations is going against your party? Are you suggesting that the GOP condoned the unethical behavior?

I did not claim Obama went against his party. Yours is simple-minded attempt at obfuscation. The claim was made that Palin had strength in standing up against corruption. While she deserves credit for her whistleblowing, her own support for ridiculous government funding of the "bridge to nowhere" and the investigation of her potential abuse of power muddy her image.

Think what you like about Obama, at least he has been vetted by the voters of this country for the last 18 months. Palin is a complete and utter nobody from nowhere who brings nothing.

Anonymous said...

Liberals like to repeat the generic statement that she is being investigated for potential abuse of power, but here are some details they don't like to repeat:

FACT: more than a year before she was elected governor, and about two months before launching her campaign, Palin pushed trooper commanders to take action against State Trooper Wooten.

FACT: Wooten has been married and divorced four times. *Maybe* all four divorces were the other person's fault but I doubt it.

FACT - Wooten's record as a State Trooper "indicates a serious and concentrated pattern of unacceptable and at times, illegal activity occurring over a lengthy period, which establishes a course of conduct totally at odds with the ethics of our profession," Col. Julia Grimes, then head of Alaska State Troopers, wrote in March 1, 2006, letter suspending Wooten for 10 days. After the union protested it, the suspension was reduced to five days.

As the investigation got under way in 2005, Wooten was in the midst of a bitter divorce from Palin's sister, Molly McCann. The couple was fighting over custody of their two young children. Accusations flew from both sides.

Troopers eventually investigated 13 issues and found four in which Wooten violated policy or broke the law or both:

Wooten used a Taser on his stepson.

He illegally shot a moose.

He drank beer in his patrol car on one occasion.

He told others his father-in-law would "eat a f'ing lead bullet" if he helped his daughter get an attorney for the divorce.

Beyond the investigation sparked by the family, trooper commanders saw cause to discipline or give written instructions to correct Wooten seven times since he joined the force, according to Grimes' letter to Wooten.

Those incidents included: a reprimand in January 2004 for negligent damage to a state vehicle; a January 2005 instruction after being accused of speeding, unsafe lane changes, following too closely and not using turn signals in his state vehicle; a June 2005 instruction regarding personal cell phone calls; an October 2005 suspension from work after getting a speeding ticket; and a November 2005 memo "to clarify duty hours, tardiness and personal business during duty time."

Anonymous said...

"With all due respect to Governor Palin, she’s been a governor for two years, she’s been able but undistinguished. I don’t think people could really name a big, important thing that she’s done. She was mayor of the 10th largest city in Alaska (Alaska!). And again, with all due respect to Wasilla, Alaska, it’s one-fifth the size of American Fork, Utah; Horn Lake, Mississippi; Neenah, Wisconsin; and it's a bit smaller than Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. It’s not a big town. So if McCain were to pick Governor Palin, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I’m really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States?"

Thank you, Karl Rove!

Anonymous said...

11:32,

I stipluate all the facts you provided. The inconvenient fact for you is that the State of Alaska knew all of these facts yet decided to appropriate $100,000 in taxpayer money to investigate Governor Palin for abuse of power.

Anonymous said...

How is that an inconvenient fact for me ? I have nothing to do decisions made by the State of Alaska and I'm sure that you are not hinting that Governor Palin spent the $100,000 investigating herself.

In any case, I'd love to see any of the Obama supporters that are labeling Palin as too undistinguished to be Vice President explain how their undistinguished candidate for President deserved to be President.

Anonymous said...

Your facts were assessed by the State of Alaska and they decided to go ahead with the investigation anyway. This renders your recitation of the laundry list of information essentially moot.

How is Obama deserving? Pretty simple. He's been vetted for nearly two years and won the support of a major political party via nationwide campaigning and earning votes of the citizens of this country.

Sarah Palin is a nobody who has done nothing.

Athena Smith said...

The discussion about the abortion has been carried out on an emotional basis and not a rational one. The basis on which the pro-choice movement has built its strength is the following:
1. Although everyone agrees that life starts at conception, there is absolutely no agreement at which point a human person starts existing.
And only human persons may be protected under the constitution and the law, not every form of life.
2. The woman owns her body and she may decide if she will protect the life she is carrying. Whether we like it or not, the owner always enjoys more rights. Exactly the same way you are in possession of your body and you enjoy the right to decide if you are going to grant life to others or not. For example I may be in need of a kidney transplant, without which I will die. My cousin could be the only compatible donor in the country. I might ask her to become a donor. After all she may live with one kidney. She has every right to refuse and thus condemn me (a fully formed human being, not an embryo) to death. And she has that right because she owns her body. Needless to say, the scenario is being played out daily in various hospitals.
3 . Having had three children, I know what it feels like to carry a baby inside. It was magic because my pregnancies were wanted. It is very easy for me to preach around that everyone should feel the same way. People are different. Women who do not desire to carry a pregnancy through, have always resorted to abortions. Since the beginning of time. So a bit of realism will not hurt. A prohibition will lead to back alley butchers making thousands of dollars. So not only the “undesired” behavior will continue but we will have created a new class of criminals and a new wave of an underground economy.

Anonymous said...

"Whether we like it or not, the owner always enjoys more rights"

Its really too bad that Obama is against providing 14th Amendment protections to babies that survive abortion attempts.

Anonymous said...

12:25,

You are a one-trick pony and either seriously misinformed or a liar.

The Illinois BAIPA legislation Obama voted against on multiple occasions was also opposed by the Illinios Medical Society (a bunch of noted baby killers, I'm sure). Why? Because it was not the same legislation that passed 98-0 in the US Senate. When the state legislation was finally marked up the same as the federal legislation, which Obama publicly stated he would support, AMAZINGLY it passed.

The original BAIPA legislation in Illinois was nothing more than a ruse to undermine Roe v. Wade. This crapola was trotted out by Alan Keyes in the Illinois Senate race Obama won and it was laughed at by the people of Illinois.

Anonymous said...

Can McCain really think he can persuade the electorate that Palin is the most (OK, how about one of the most?) qualified peeson to step in and serve as Presidentin the event something happens to him?

Keep in mind, she has 66 days, just a little over two months to persuade the country she is the right pick. Obama was ELECTED as the nominee. Palin was APPOINTED without any voter input.

All that aside, she is an extreme conservative (creationism in school, overturn Roe v. Wade, straight down the line).

If the dems don't defeat this ticket given the current clown incchief's approval rating and the mood of the electorate, the party really should disband and start over.
Did anyone see that bufoon on Fox News say that Palin has foreign policy experience b/c she is Gov of Alaska and...Alaska is very close to Russia. He really said that.

Sidney Condorcet said...

I don't hear much outrage about men deserting their families, Sidney.

9:42 PM

Actually, Obama has time and time again (I believe even in his convention speech) chastised absentee fathers who need to take much greater responsibility in their children's lives. He's displayed much outrage on this matter. So your point is moot.

Palin believes that women who get pregnant as a result of rape and incest should be prohibited from getting an abortion. Some moderate, huh?

And if you want to see again how Obama has far superior life experience to assume to role of President, please see the last blog entry's thread where I laid out their lifetime experience. It's not even close. Obama may not have a ton of Washington experience, but he's been a deep thinker about policy problems and constitutional issues for over 20 years. Palin has not even had an Iraq War position as late as 2007. Not even close...

This is what David Frum, a conservative pundit at National Review has to say about the choice of Sarah Palin:

"The longer I think about it, the less well this selection sits with me. And I increasingly doubt that it will prove good politics. The Palin choice looks cynical. The wires are showing.

John McCain wanted a woman: good.

He wanted to keep conservatives and pro-lifers happy: naturally.

He wanted someone who looked young and dynamic: smart.

And he discovered that he could not reconcile all these imperatives with the stated goal of finding a running mate qualified to assume the duties of the presidency "on day one."

Sarah Palin may well have concealed inner reservoirs of greatness. I hope so! But I'd guess that John McCain does not have a much better sense of who she is, what she believes, and the extent of her abilities than my enthusiastic friends over at the Corner. It's a wild gamble, undertaken by our oldest ever first-time candidate for president in hopes of changing the board of this election campaign. Maybe it will work. But maybe (and at least as likely) it will reinforce a theme that I'd be pounding home if I were the Obama campaign: that it's John McCain for all his white hair who represents the risky choice, while it is Barack Obama who offers cautious, steady, predictable governance.

Here's I fear the worst harm that may be done by this selection. The McCain campaign's slogan is "country first." It's a good slogan, and it aptly describes John McCain, one of the most self-sacrificing, gallant, and honorable men ever to seek the presidency.

But question: If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency?"

And, Andrew Sullivan puts it perhaps the best:
"Think about what the Palin pick really says about how McCain views this campaign and how he views his potential responsibilities in national security.
Think about what it says about the sincerity of McCain's own central criticism of Obama these past two months in foreign affairs.
Think about how he picked a woman to be a heartbeat away from a war presidency who hadn't even thought much, by her own admission, about the Iraq war as late as 2007.
Think about how he made this decision barely knowing the woman.
Think about the fact that the most McCain could say about his potential war-time vice-president in foreign affairs and national security when selecting her is that she commanded Alaska's National Guard as governor and has a son in the military.
Think about the men and women serving this country who have every right to trust that their potential commander-in-chief, whatever their party, would have some record of even interest in foreign policy before assuming office.
Think about how the key factor in this decision was not who could defend this country were something dreadful happen to McCain in office but how to tread as much on Obama's convention bounce and use women's equality as a wedge issue among Democrats because it might secure a few points here or there. Oh, and everyone would be surprised. And even Rove would be annoyed.
This is his sense of honor and judgment. This is his sense of responsibility and service.
Here's the real slogan the McCain campaign should now adopt:
Putting. Country. Last."

Anonymous said...

A woman does own her body. A man owns his body. A woman has every right to see to it that her body does not contain another life by avoiding pregnancy. Since according to Athena and most others, another life begins at conception, there are two bodies involved in pregnancy. Both have the right to life.

A man owns his body. But if his body shoots and kills another body he has committed murder. Both the man and his victim had the right to life. Murder is a crime.

Call the analogy simplistic because the second victim was not in the body of the killer but there are still two people involved in each killing. The point is clear: We are in control of our actions and behavior and all life is sacred.

Avoid abortions by avoding unwanted pregnancies. What could be simpler or more humane.

Sidney Condorcet said...

The point is clear: We are in control of our actions and behavior and all life is sacred.

Avoid abortions by avoding unwanted pregnancies. What could be simpler or more humane.

9:09 AM

A woman has little control with regard to rape. Yet, Governor Palin would see to it that this woman cannot abort her pregnancy. Doesn't sound simple or humane to me when government officials would seek to prevent women who have become pregnant as a result of rape or incest from getting abortions.

Your point is taken though. We all wish to avoid abortions. Pro-life people always make it seem as if pro-choice people are in fact "pro-abortion" and that we do not wish to see abortions avoided. Few among us celebrate this incredibly tragic, but very personal, choice. I just don't believe that the government has any rational interest in the protection of a zygote and doubt very much that the government has the legitimate authority to prohibit women from exercising bodily autonomy (for the same reason I'm against most drug laws).

Athena Smith said...

Anonymous
As I said, life does begin at conception, and even before if you think about it, but a human person? There is no agreement on the latter, none among theologians, none among physicians, none among biologists, none among lawyers, none among ethicists...
Absolutely none.
This is the "gap" over which the Row vs Wade was partially based.

Now as far as preventing pregnancies are concerned, as a country we are doing close to NOTHING. In the year 2008, when we are all bombarded by the sex messages from the media and society, we have chosen to teach "only abstinence" programs. If a teacher mentions any other type of "sex ed" she is in trouble. I received a letter of apology from my daughter's high school because they were shown art photos that included nudity. Jesus.... We are talking about art here and we have confused it with porno?

So to make my point, let's take a look at international comparisons in teen pregnancy rates and STDs. And see how low we have sunk.

By the way, if you want to know why the Netherlands is so successful, it's not because the teens are having less sex. It's because they are bombarded daily with sex ed classes. On top of that, the Catholic church there has actually co-authored one of the texts used in which they are pretty frank about the whole thing.

steve said...

andy the republican party has been relying on smoke and mirrors to establish its positions for 20 years,since
Regan .
this latest gambit by McCain is more of the same.
I assume he wants to co-op the idea of change, but what he has done is superficial, irrational and dangerous. A woman fine... a woman with no qualifications used to frame a political need no. Hopefully Obama through reason can make transparent and allow others to see these Repulican positions of fraud. In sum I couldn`t agree with you more.

Anonymous said...

If Palin is more of the same than surely Obama is more of the same.

Anonymous said...

8:14 I saw that FOX show. It was a joke you nut head. They were all laughing. Dems are really dim or have no sense of humor whatever. Oops. I'm wrong. Look at the jokers running their party.

Anonymous said...

It is not the government's responsibility to provide sex education to children. When I went to school, lo those many yers ago when the public schools were fantasitc, no one even considered that anyone but the parents should provide that information. Parents did and their were few pregnacies. But really, the lesson is very simple. Have sex and you risk getting pregnant.

What determines a human being? Athena says no one knows. The implicatioin is that since the unborn require the mother's care they are not yet human. However, when the baby is born it still requires the mother's milk (according to nature) and care to survive. If the moment of life is leaving the mother's body then those that survive abortion are human and must be taken care of.
If at the moment before birth the baby is not human, what makes "being born" the magical moment. Since no one will agree, perhaps we should err on the side of comapassion and humanity and consider the beginning of life, in fact "a life".

Anonymous said...

I'm a young woman and my girl friends say their boyfriends won't wear a condemn and make them have sex without that protection. Some are high school girls and don't know how to get the pill. It seems to me girls should have more backbone and just say no if their boyfriends won't cooperate. The boys don't have to go through an abortion or having a child. It may not be fair but that's the way it is so girls should get some smarts.

Anonymous said...

11:45,

If it was a joke, the folks at Fox then confirm that Palin has no foreign policy experience (or curiosity/interest given her "not thinking much about Iraq").

11:59,

If the boyfriends of your girlfriends "make them have sex", it's rape.

If your girlfriends cannot be strong enought to insist on their partners wearing a condom they should get birth control pills if they want to be sexually active and want to prevent pregnancy. "I don't know how to get them" is a pitiful excuse for irresponsible behavior. If they have a phone or access to the internet, it would take them about 5 minutes to figure out how to get contraceptives.

BTW, if their boyfriends will not respect them enough to wear a condom, your girlfriends should dump the losers.

Anonymous said...

12:14 You say that because she is not given credit by Fox for living near Russia and that Alaska has not been invaded, that that confirms she has no experience. Are you crazy? It was a joke, not a serious discussion of her capabilites.

You also like to state the obvious:

Of course girls/women should have more backbone and refuse unprotected sex. That was the point of the comments made by 11:59. In fact if girls/woman had more backbone they wouldn't put up with the obvious sexism and unfair treatment of women in our country, even if they're Baptist women who are taught they are inferior to their husbands.

And so what if it is rape. What are they going to do -- sue? Go to court? "cuss" them out?

You have obviously never been a high school girl. She has very little power or very little support. Her parents will not be overjoyed to help her get the "pill"; she can't go to the doctor herself unless she has money and is sophisticated beyond her age; she may not even know about the pill and in our society having sex outside of marriage is not considered "irresponsible behavior." It's an activity all are "entitled" to indulge. And as for older women, if they get pregnant unintentionally they can always get an abortion; a fact many men point out as part of the seduction. This is also true of married couples. Anyone can get an abortion for any reason.

BTW all sex is not between boyfriends and girlfreinds. Did you never hear of the "one night stand"; or, "casual sex."? The fact remains though that no matter the circumstances of the sex, there is risk of pregnancy and abortion should not support irresponaible behavior and killing "lives."

I live in a religious right town and those "good" girls have as many abortions as those in other places. Ideology changes when events hit home.

Anonymous said...

I say we call on the National Enquirer to check out the rumors that Palin's newborn son is really her grandson. Or does the Enquirer only bring down Democrats?

Anonymous said...

I think we should investigate the rumors that Obama's daughter is really his wife.

Anonymous said...

12:46,

Steve Doocy made the claim that Sarah Palin had foreign policy experience since Russia is so close to Alaska. There are two possible reactions to this:

1) He's joking and, therefore, reinforces Palin does not have foreign policy experience.
2) He's serious and proves he's a douche.

All the excuses and whining you can come up with do not excuse a sexually active person from protecting themselves. Whine all you like about sexism or young women claiming not to have access to contraception or having unsupportive parents, the fact is if the girl/woman is not going to protect herself she should not put herself in the position of expecting the man to do it for her.

Empower yourself, women!!

Anonymous said...

"(Palin's) not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" - Alaska Republican state Senate President Lyda Green

Anonymous said...

ANOTHER GIMMICK, COURTESY OF THE MAVERICK!!! The one thing I worry about, this could be some sort of evil Karl Rovian tactic...it seems like such a ridiculous and poor choice, I wonder why it was really done. I have a feeling they had Romney or Huckabee all set to go on THursday night and then they were blown away with what they saw in Mile High Stadium...this definitely switched the news coverage quick.

Anonymous said...

3:47 You're what's wrong with the our country: you're dumb.

When the joke was made about Russia being near Alaska they were all laughing because it was a joke. His delivery indicated it was a joke; their laughing with him proved it was a joke. Only possibility: you are a joke.

There was no whining and excuses about sexually active people being held responsible. It was the continuation or a preceding interchange between a commentator and Athena who had said the schools should teach sex education. The response was it is the parent's responsibility. Then another contributor made some dumb suggestions about what girls should do like using the pill or dump their boyfriends. The response you so stupidly criticize is one that totally agrees with your point of view. It was merely explaining why some high school girls don't protect themselves and continue to be sexually irresponsiable.

I am amazed at what seems to be the low reading comprehension among some contriburos. People simply cannot read and understand. I will offer the possiblity however that the number of Anonymous entries who always misunderstand may be contributed by the same person, There is a similarity to his opacity and it may not be his fault. The schools are not succeeding in teaching children to read. I maintain that the reading is so poor because the classes are not grouped according to ability which is poltically incorrect, which is another stupid Democratic point of view.

Anonymous said...

3:47 How about the "man" being held responsible for the care of the child so it is not only the woman's job to protect herself from pregnancy. It takes two - yeah a man and a woman - to create a life and it takes two to pay for that life after birth. Abortion should not be a way to birth control.

Now with DNA it would be easy to hold the "daddy" accountable. In fact, men who fear a woman will try to force him to marry her if she is pregnant often protect themselves from impregnating. That's uaually wheh they're having a relatinship but theman has no intention of marriage.

Anonymous said...

If Palin is not ready to be VP, OBama is not ready to be President.

The point is probably moot because Ferraro said today that she's still hearing that the Democratic women disgusted with the Party will vote for McCain.

Anonymous said...

Its so funny to hear the liberals that nominated the community organizer as their Presidential candidate claim that Palin is "not ready" to be Vice President.

The Ostroy Report said...

Yes, Anon 5:00, he's the "community organizer." Any particular reason--other than your embarassingly desperate partisanship--that you left out his 8 years in the Illinois State Legisature and 4 years in the U.S. Senate?

Andy

Anonymous said...

4:43,

What's wrong with this country is there are too many people like you who play point, counter-point anonymously on blogs because they have no social interaction, are sexually repressed and are in need of someone to yank their internet connection.

I think your mother is calling...

Anonymous said...

5:47 Have you told your therapist that you can "read" the lives of people who write anonymously on the Internet and that you can hear their mothers calling them?

Anonymous said...

I feel sorry for all of you. How can you in good concious support a man who voted to ban protections against infanticide.

Bless your hearts.
Its amazing ....the audaticity...
protest all you want...deep down in your heart, you know this is a terrible, terrible thing.

Anonymous said...

9:34,

If it were true, you might have a point. It isn't, though, so you don't.

This same line of attack was tried by Alan Keyes 4 years ago in the US Senate race. It did not work then, because it's not true, and it won't work now for the same reason.

Anonymous said...

There is a tape of Obama telling two others that if the baby who survived abortion were allowed to live it would require yet another doctor at the abortion to make the determination but more importantly allowing the baby to live would weaken Roe vs. Wade.

It's on tape and I saw it on Cable TV.

Anonymous said...

Have any of you even thought for a moment that all the candidates have partaken in some scandal or another? This is a mute point. This just proves to me that none of the candidates are truly for the majority of the people, therefore none of them should be put in a position to lead this country. I think we all get caught up in specific details when we should be talking about the whole picture. I don't believe there is a single, educated average joe in this country that knows all the facts... we are constantly being baraged by the lies and deciet by all, including the media who are bought by the 6 largest companies in the world who, in turn, are all being paid to support one candidate or the other. We all need to come together as one.. somehow.. put aside our differences as Republican or Democrat, Man or Woman, black or white and fight for the good of the majority as our founding fathers did.