Palin's "White Flag Of Surrender" Line Falls Flat

Sarah Palin is touting the Surge, and America is apparently not that interested, according to CNN's reaction meter of Ohio uncommitted voters. Dial Line stays flat, flat, flat. Biden touts Obama's plan, the dial line shoots up. Especially at the idea of Iraqis taking responsibility. Women especially like the idea of the Iraqis spending their own money. Timetables get tepid support. Palin's accusation that Obama and Biden are waving the "white flag of surrender" sends the line plummeting.

Comments

[truthorsnare]

Last night's debate proved that PALIN IS ALL SOUND BITE, NO SUBSTANCE. Republicans are willing to dumb themselves down in order to support this woman! That's not putting country first.

She has no depth and they have no qualms.

She didn't answer many of the questions that were posed to her. Instead, she repeatedly pivoted back to her over-used talking points. She called the commander of the NATO-led security assistance force in Afghanistan "McClellan" instead of his name General David McKiernan, and her answers were often vague.

Again...AL­L SOUND BITE, NO SUBSTANCE.

Peggy Noonan was on a talk show morning supporting Palin. However, while praising Palin's performance, Noonan declared that Palin "is not a thinker", but is about action. "Not a thinker????" Who wants to elect someone to one of the highest offices in the land who is not particularly adept at "thinking"? Apparently, the republicans.

[StephCaster]

Um, Republicans don't have to dumb themselves down. They are pretty much as dimwitted as it is possible to be and still operate opposable thumbs.

[kace]

A blanket assertion such as that is pretty dimwitted. Therefore I must assume you are a republican.

[tuckerboundsisadouchebag]

George Bush has been president for 8 years.

People seem to vote for drinking buddies, or fishing buddies. The ability to think is not a prerequisite.

[babyphat4u]

now we have to vote for moose hunting buddies...­lol

[JoeBlough]

Who will sit down on the other side of the table and sign the Articles of Surrender? They have no Leader, they have no Army, they have no Country. We are shooting at an ever changing group of people. The words surrender and win will never apply to Iraq. We can’t win and we can’t lose. All we can do is to shoot at them until we get tired of the killing or we run out of money. When we come home, we will neither have won nor lost. We will only be poorer and the subject of World scorn. America has lost its center.

[Norak]

Your thoughtful post brought tears to my eyes. Thank you. This is the reality of our present government.

[LadyAva]

So eloquently put...

[thirteen13]

The war is being financed through Communist China. It is not pay as you go.

A major goal of al Qaeda is to destroy the USA ecomony, bit by bit, debt and more debt.

Forget about all this stuff, go out and buy something "Joe six pack". Being in serious debt is the current fad and quite fashionable.

[LightningJoe]

Not to mention, that our constant pounding of the very cultures and livability of these unfortunate countries is a better recruiting tool for terrorists than the uncontrolled profit motive that got up Osama's ire in the first place.

We've proven his case for him. We've shown ourselves to be just what he said we are: morality-free, violent profiteers, on an economic crusade to conquer the world and spread our own idea of profit-dictated "freedom" by force, to everyone else, whether they want to think it over or not.

We want it == You do it: Definition of arrogance.

As long as we overlook the positive results of a comprehensive development strategy for poor countries, our interventions will only spread disdain for our Corporatist culture -- which everyone in the world now associates with the idea of Democracy that we're shoving down their throats.

We've sabotaged our own best interests, by acting like the despots we decry. Or rather, Bush and the Republicans have done it.

[wm1066]

The article talks about the running graph at the bottom of the screen but the video on Huff is from msnbc without the graph????
I thought the graph was great and it showed that the Biden had higher numbers than Palin, and that he was winning, that gave me great satisfaction and hope.

[aaguilar27]

Palin was like a wolverine --- WITH NO TEETH!! I never heard her give a plan for policy, for the future or this change she spouts! What change?? Just tell me how different they plan to be from Bush/Cheney! I was shaking in my boots when she said "expanded powers" for the vice presidency! Someone help me!!

[Bubba Gump]

I loved it when Joe Biden correctly said that Dick Cheney has been the most dangerous VP in history and that the Vice President is part of the Executive branch of American government, under Article 2. Cheney and Palin ought to know the Constitution at least as well as a high school student!

[rex74]

I believe the incredibly smart joe biden cited article 1, which is incorrect.

[TypicalRepublicanDotCom]

You know we have to fight the fight until we win the war in Iraq so we can build schools there, hospitals, provide the Iraqis universal healthcare, gas price relief, and a functioning army because freedom is on the march and we can't stop now! McCain/Palin '08!

[Bubba Gump]

Define "victory in Iraq" for us, please. Isn't victory supposed to be Iraq, managed by Iraqis? Not Blackwater and Haliburton, who make obscene amounts of money every day they keep America in a quagmire.

[LaughingAussie]

>"Define "victory in Iraq" ">

Oil under $50 a barrel?

[JoeBlough]

How about we do some of these things here in America, and such as schools.

[FredBrighton]

Oh my, I so hope this is sarcasm or irony or something like that. Really, seriously this can't actually be a straight response. See, I'm kinda thick at times, by golly, and the thing is so many incredibly stupid people have said these exact things and meant it... like our President for instance..­. that I get a cold chill reading them. But aside from George it's impossible to believe that anyone who has ever read a newspaper or online analysis of the Iraqi debacle could think we can win by killing everybody who dislikes us or who thinks we shouldn't have killed their loved ones. Obviously the more children we blow up the more people will dislike us and want to harm us. We can't kill enough or maim enough to make the survivors like us. The Iraqis want us to leave and leave soon. We've already lost the war, we lost it when we bombed down town Baghdad killing innocent people by the thousands.

[Miss Lola]

How 'bout building some of those things HERE first???????????

Freedom is on the march? WTF does that mean EXACTLY? Do you really think that once we leave, a theocracy WON'T take over?????

The reason why the "surge" worked is because there were a lot of underlying factors: sunni and shia no longer were living in the same area-HUGE reason.

Gas relief? sure! they've got a lot of it, they're sellling it to us at a premium.

[jayjaga]

"White flag of surrender" Does she really know what she is talking about? She is hust repeating what she memorized out of the Rovian books.

She should be made to define what victory means in Iraq? I'm sure she has no clue just like McSame.

[Kenji]

She also said McCain has "won wars for America".
As usual, she didn't elaborate.

[KNadine]

Which wars has McCain won for America? He always says that and I always say WTF!!

[zenlikejen]

I wanted to scream at my screen when she made the "white flag of surrender" comment. If we are supposed to be liberating the country (Ha!....ug­h...) then what IS it exactly that we "win" by staying?

I thought this was about Iraq being able to govern themselves - how does it help them if we never give them the reigns? It's about d@mn time we get outta there...

[Openeyes]

A tough sell to the American people that Obama's strategy is "surrender" when over 70% of us want out of Iraq, many on an even shorter timeline than 16 months. It just sounded so phony, like even she didn't really believe it.

She never really countered Biden, nor could she explain the following: if leaving in 16 months is surrender, does that mean staying indefinetly is "victory"?

[Bubba Gump]

I found Palin's "white flag of surrender" comment as insulting and obstructionist. Like Bush, Palin offered slogans instead of solutions and suggested that anyone who disagrees is unpatriotic. She and the GOP try to hamstring anyone from venturing away from the Bush (Disaster) Doctrine, which has failed to accomplish any permanent, meaningful goals in either Iraq or Afghanistan for 5 and 6 years, respectfully. "The Surge" is a tourniquet to stop the hemorrhage but isn't going to lead us to victory all by itself, much like Palin's debate performance was for John McCain's free-fall in the polls. Our valiant troops have done everything they've been asked to do, and more, but the problem is the White House and John McCain; you can't ignore fundamental truths, blunder into combat in repeated errors, and expect slogans of "Mission Accomplished" to carry the day when the loss of American blood and treasure say otherwise year after year. That's not leadership. That's incompetence. If I am wrong, then where's the clear-as-day GOP plan for victory in Iraq? What is the crystal clear finish-line drawn in the sands of Iraq which Palin, McCain, and Bush can point at? In December 1941, General Patton and the American people did so, identifying Allied entry into Berlin and Tokyo as victory in World War 2. Why can't the GOP do so now? It's so easy for Palin to point a finger of blame against people who disagree. But what's Palin's plan? Didn't hear it.

[FredBrighton]

I'm going to be unpopular on this one, but I would like to bring up something I think is important. Our "valiant troops" have indeed done a great deal, and more. Marines have gang raped a fourteen year old girl while killing her family. Then our valiant Marines shot her in the head and burned down her house. They've admitted to spraying crowds of people with gunfire out of fear and panic. They've walked into a mosque with boots on and rifles loaded, and on camera shot a wounded insurgent in the head, blowing his brains across the wall of the holy building. These facts, these videos, are delivered to the entire world in order to show us as murdering irreligious savages and who can deny it? I love my country, the mountains, the skies and forests and plains. I love my family and friends. But I read about our history and I follow our activities around the world. To most of the civilized planet we are the most dangerous people on earth. We either stop killing the innocent and respect others right to exist or we will be defending ourselves from those who feel the need to balance the books. War is murder and the world thinks we are a democracy, the world thinks we gave the orders and unleashed our military. We better think about this.

[VirgoGrrrlie]

I felt a chill when Palin made her "white flag of surrender" comment - suddenly I was a preschooler hearing the monster-voice of Senator JOSEPH McCarthy on the radio using his red-scare tactics to destroy lives and steal power. I also felt personally shocked when Palin glibly announced she was going to ignore Gwen Iffle's questions and format completely!! If Gwen Iffle had been a white centrist instead of an African-American progressive, Silly Sarah would NOT have been so cavalier and lah-dee-dah in dismissing moderator questions COMPLETELY. Sarah Palin has had no problem making racist jokes about Obama which are a matter of public record - calling him "Sambo" for example. Sarah Palin believes herself to be a "teflon" candidate - she believes that with a wink and a smile she can wiggle out of anything. That may have worked in beauty pageants and maybe with her hubby - but it sure as "BLEEP" doesn't work with me or any of the other hundreds of thousands of aging women who have NO HEALTH INSURANCE. Palin is a racist and a hypocrite - all she cares about is adding to her millions and stepping on others for power. PALIN WAS AN INSULT TO AMERICAN LAST NIGHT.

[Cakey4814]

Very well said.

[Kenji]

Yeah, you have to wonder is she STILL doesn't know that she's in over her head. In a weird way, you have to admire that kind of blithe ignorance; she'll never be paralyzed by self-doubt!

[KitWit]

Look at Palin's wire over her right shoulder.
Why isn't it being written about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFhI3cWY6L4&eurl=http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=17403367&ref=name

[zenlikejen]

I'd say that if in fact someone *was* feeding her lines, they did her no favors....

[IndyReader]

Whenever she did the "look into the camera" speeches, away from her Alaska and energy opinions, her voice fell flat. Maybe that is a sign that someone was feeding her lines.

[JaniceL]

Now are we going to hear internet rumors about how her listening device went out midway through the debate and she had to continue on with any assistance?

[CaliTLC]

Ms. Palin is so uttlerly UNREFINED and appears to be incapable of embracing FORMALITY that it is dizzying. She should have comported herself in a more presidential manner with only a scant sprinkling of "folkseyne­ss." If this is how she appears when in front of the American people to address serious issues, I can only imagine what she must sound like when talking with the Elite 6. Considering Ms. Palin's OBVIOUS LIMITATIONS in terms of experience, historical bank of knowledge, foreign policy and domestic issues, she earned a C+ on being able to able to repeat memorized lines.

[SENATORCALLENBOWE]

REALLY? LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR OWN COUNTRIES INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE STRUGGLING ISNT PATRIOTIC :) BUT GIVING MONEY TO THOSE WHO CREATE PURE GREED IS :) GOD BLESS AMERICA...­AND NO PLACE ELSE?

[Eres]

I've read countless reports on the debates but have yet to see mention of the wire Palin wore.

[CaliTLC]

It was very likely her microphone. Recall that when she walked out on the stage to greet and meet Sen. Biden, we overheard her say, "can I call you Joe?" {Should have said, "may I." } She was away from the podium and we heard her loud voice very clearly. She was wearing a microphone that has a wire.

[Dustee]

I've read them too.

[boing007]

Eres

I've read countless reports on the debates but have yet to see mention of the wire Palin wore.

Where was this wire that you say Palin was wearing? I did wonder, after the debate ended, why her voice was so loud when she stepped to the front of the stage to greet Joe Biden. Hidden microphone too?

[JahLenin]

Biden outclassed her by a mile. wire or no.

Last night was the first time I was really happy with Obama's choice of running mate..

[wingnutslayer]

You bet it was flat, like yesterday's roadkill it was flat. Since even Bush and Maliki have established tiimelines, Sarah proved herself to be way behind on this issue and resorting to pandering to the push button patriotism crowd. Her worst habit was her repeated (there you go again) assertion that Biden's looking at the past, namely Bush's abysmal record in practically everything, was indicative of his inablity to move into the future. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead. The past isn't even past." It's alarming that the Governor sees no importance in either looking at the past or learning from it. After all, failure to learn from the past is what placed us in the dire situation we're now in, both inside and outside of the U.S. If we repeat the mistakes of George W. Bush, we won't get another chance to learn from them. School's out.