Moosing Sarah -- Time for the Dems to Leash the Pitbull
It seems forever since the Democrats completed their triumphant Convention in Denver with its Obama/Biden/Clinton/Kennedy unity ticket and its intoxicating sense of take-it-to-the-finish line momentum. What happened? Not Sarah Palin. How could a small-time Alaska mayor and first term Governor derail the Obama freight train? No it was not Sarah Palin but the extraordinary reaction to McCain's wildly irresponsible decision to make her his running mate that seems to have paralyzed the Party.
Something about Palin scrambled the otherwise steady nerves of the Obama campaign. As if they were believing everything she was saying. Assuming that the Republican base was the country and hence thinking her success at her Convention there would be replicated nationally. (Did you see the face of that convention? Is that really the face of America?) Afraid to be accused of sexism (ironic after how it disposed of Hillary); or of unwarranted anger (Obama sometimes seems like Governor Dukakis, unwilling to rise to the bait even when it would be politically smart to do so).
Why is it so hard simply to tell the truth about Palin? Yes she is a successful and politically smart woman to be admired for that reason. But she is also a typical Republican values hypocrite preaching choice for women - except when it comes to pregnancy; preaching that family should be kept out of the political searchlight - except when it is useful to parade her own family on center stage; preaching against earmarks - except when it help her career to solicit them for Alaska; preaching about America first - except that she actually has made a career out of putting Palin first, Alaska second and America last (check out her Alaska secessionist husband).
She is a successful and politically smart woman, but she is also a right wing extremist who tried to delete books she didn't approve of from the town library where she was mayor and tried to fire the librarian when that didn't work; who is a creationist and, like the current occupant of the White House, who has little use for science, whether it is the science of evolution or the science of global warming; who never had a passport until last year when she visited her National Guard troops in Kuwait. Otherwise a stranger to the world in which America must make its way.
She is a successful and politically smart woman, but she is not merely pro-life, she is a no-exceptions-never-mind-rape-or-incest pro-lifer who thinks woman have no right to participate in decisions about what happens to their bodies if they become pregnant.
What the Democratic leadership has yet to figure out is that the real gender bias in the Palin appointment is the patronizing attitude that assumes what would and should be savaged and ridiculed in a man must be condoned or even welcomed in a woman.
Dukakis was skewered by twisted stories about rapists and released prisoners because he wanted to appear reasonable. War hero Kerry got swift-boated by men who never served in the military. Is Obama now going to let himself get moosed by a parochial Alaskan know-nothing because she's a woman?
Time to get mad. At Palin. At McCain. At the Bushes (yes both of them). Gender equality means women can't hide their biases and dogmatism behind gender.
Speaking of men, it is not really Palin but McCain who is the perpetrator we need to criticize. It is McCain who cynically chose a far right wing ideologue who shares the worst biases of the current administration in Washington and made her his running mate in a "campaign against Washington."
In other words, it is not the pit-bull in lipstick but the man who unleashed her who bears the responsibility. Michael Vick went to prison for turning his pit-bulls loose on others. I'm not recommending putting McCain in jail, just keeping him and his snarling (or is that a smile?) running mate out of the White House. Your move, Senator Obama.
Read more analysis from HuffPost bloggers on John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin
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Why is everyone is so busy admiring the talents of Republican VP candidate. She is a successful woman in politics. That is enough. She needs to be questioned, grilled and taken as seriously as anyone would any Vice Pres candidate. The press and think tanks need to do their job.
There is not enough time in the next 2 months to try and make others see our way. Simply GET OUT THE VOTE. It will become a game of numbers. Ask EVERYONE who wants to see a change in the WAY of thinking and policies , a reversal in spending, a reversal in fiscal stability and responsibility to vote. Everyone must register NOW and vote. Dont leave it to the neighbor, or friend or daughter or son. You vote. If you have any influence at all... this is the time to exert it. It is not only Obama's campaign. It is our's. Dont let the Republicans hijack the country thrice in row. There will be nothing left at the end of their reign.
Dems think they are above it all and dont really need to vote because in the natural order of things the system will right itself. But that would ultimately not only lead to the deaths of a few thousands more (needlessly) , wreck the environment irreversibly, create more jobless, leave more health insurance -less Americans and make us all into moral paupers in this world.
We cannot afford it. Not this year. Not now.
T
The MSM is helping prop up the rupulican talking points and its sickening!! I hope Obama stops this kind of nonsense when he is elected so that next time they wont get away with it as easy.The names reformer and maverick are not ony lies but it is a joke how the msm are helping them with this bull too!! They know all the lies about McCain and Palin and never continue on truth telling so that the american people have a real clear view they just help circulate and cover up for ratings.An
Ok, does anyone else see the ad about Obama on this page? Or maybe it's the ad with McCain saying can he win. The ad was put there by Newsmax.co
And therein lies the problem,Of all the places to see an ad like this one On huffingtonpost ,one of the biggest liberal blogs on the net should tell you how much we've lost this game we like to call democracy. You would never see a liberal advertiser on ANY Republican website. Make no illusions about this election,the democrats and the republicans are just 2 sides of the corporate coin.
If you follow the money trail,you will see,that it's the same players that come out every presidential election and sponsoring BOTH candidates . Wall Street wants Obama,Big Oil wants McCain,and guess who has the power and money at this time in our nations history?
What the big money wants,the money gets and todays news about Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews being muted in this election should drive the point home to us.
Obama seems to be the lesser of two evils,but i'm betting that big oil gets there way and god help us all,that means no matter who takes the race,the end result will be more blood for oil,more skirmishes to drive up prices,and lots of money from the taxpayers to use our soldiers to guard pipelines around the world.
This kind of rhetoric is not helpful. It is accurate the media has its bias, but clearly that works more to the favor of repubs. They have the expensive echo chamber going constantly. I don't agree that things will be the same with Obama as with McCain. If Gore would have been elected, things would have been vastly better. Kerry was recommending a surge when he was running for office. It took how many years before Bush then decided to do that? Kerry had a plan to get us out. We are still in because of Bush and the repubs. So, even if the democrats have people with money supporting that party, it is still much better and likely to do more for the middle and lower classes which is necessary to build an economy and start making progress again. We also need a government free of the religion burden which wastes so much time and money.
FLIP YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Obama advisors, are you listening!?!?!?!?!!
I agree 100 percent Benjamin Barber !Democrats need to not shy away from these extreme social lying viewpoints but head right on into the eye of the storm.
What kind of country are we building, a rigid intolerant and hypocritical one?
Palin in no way reflects an emancipated woman just because she is a governor. Further more she would never have even gotten to that spot had not many woman in past sacrificed and fought for that opportunity .
She is Ungrateful lacking the compassion and understanding to what struggles came before. It needs to be pointed out. She indirectly would deny other women the very freedom of choice that she presently enjoys and lead her to be a governor.
She is a 100 percent hypocrite, using her family for political gain.
Again, political bs with a numbing representation of how stupid the news coverage is with only a two party buffet being offered up to the public , and the public perception into the news they gobble up without ever considering what they eat might have dire consequences , and the Republican's attitude that as a last resort for mccain we can dumb down their plate offering with what they perceive is a blue collar slop, something edible for the masses.
Barak needs to do one of two things: either continue discussing the issues or "dumb down" his message to reach the masses. It's obvious that McBush's appeal is to people who aren't well abreast of the issues. People who are shallow in their thinking. People who have done no research on the candidates and can't differentiate fact from fiction.
America isn't ready for an intelligent leader. One would think that after 8 years of idiocy, they would have learned a lesson, but they haven't. The bottom line is why would one want an old man who doesn't even know how to use a computer and an incompetent "pit bull with lipstick" to lead them? Personally, I would prefer having someone who is more intelligent than I am to lead me and one who is more than a "PTA Hockey Mom" to have his back. But I am different than McBush supporters
The thing to remember is to forget the qualification argument. We need a judgment argument. Cheney and Rumsmsfeld were arguably the most experienced people in the country when, tragically, they placed in power. That reflects Bush's poor judgment (whether Sarah Palin would agree or not). Palin is a reflection on McCain's judgment just like Lieberman was on Al Gore. While I think Al would have made a much better Pres. than Bush, can you fathom the depths of just how poor Gore's judgment was in inviting him on the ticket? As far as McCain's judgment is concerned it's said he's a hothead with a wicked temper and may be suffering from PTSD, which if he's not would make him even more eccentric than he already is.
The problem with Palin is she's a raving evangelical rightwing fanatic. And she's too self confident, to the point of arrogance. How can the Replicans still believe that all their trickle down economics. pro big corporate interests and militaristic, go-it-alone foreign policy is a viable course for our future? 75% of the country thinks we're going down the tubes and McCain would be playing Rambo/Nero with the "button" on one side and his eye candy Veep Palin on the other. The assault on the World Trade Center has frightened the USA into a paranoid delusion that has led to a continuing collapse of our ideals, our respect abroad and drained our military to dangerous levels. McCain/Palin will continue that slide.
Hillary needs to put the empty pant suit in her place. She is not the little darling of working families, what she is, is the little darling of Big Oil. The religious thing is just a cover
Somehow the Palin veep nomination has "scrambled the otherwise steady nerves of the Obama campaign." No one has even dared touch the discussion of Palin's ability to take the 3 AM phone call for the obvious reason she isn't qualified. McCain had to have known that when he chose her. But this misses the point. Palin was picked precisely for her lack of experience. Granted Much to his discredit McCain has gambled big on Palin. But her nomination refocuses the discussion back on the perceived shortcoming of Obama's lack of experience. That is, McCain has to make the war the central issue of his bid for president. Somehow the Palin nomination fits McCain's personality to a tee. Palin would be no threat to a McCain presidency. She would be maleable. WIthout foreign policy experience (her living in close proximity to Russia notwithstanding) McCain could rule tohe roost with little interference - which makes McCain's pick for Secretary of State of particular interest. Policy wise it would give McCain carte blanche for his war mongering and anti environmental stances (with the latter backed by Palin.) Full steam ahead Obama! Palin might be McCain's Achilles Heel.
Somebody needs to help the Democratic Party big time: 1) Hail Sarah Palin as "an apparition of the Virgin Mary" through paid people in processions all over the USA, with an Internet Web Site praising her (Sarah) and claiming that ALL THE JEWS MUST BE converted RIGHT NOW or else Israel will be GO DAMNED! 2) Hail that Iran, Russia, etc might “accept” McCain’s “threat,” etc, etc…..
Shame on John McCain for playing around with the American intelligence in this totally inappropriate pick as VP.
Shame on him for even thinking that the country will be done justice by himself and her on the ticket.
Shame on him for playing the Bushistic shallow popularity card to win--not win for the people, but for themselves.
Shame on the GOP for not caring about "normal" people and for playing to the masses' basest sensibilities of redneckism, taxcuts, and no gun control.
Shame on the American people if they fall for it all and elect another Republican into office.
Change from the GOP??? Naw. Loose lips sink ships.
If the majority is so easily swayed and manipulated, we are doomed. We are goners.
the problem is that every time Dems trash Palin on her experience it only highlights how thin Omama's is.
you just don't get it do you? Obama is a voice for the people, Palin is a voice for her own self-interests. We don;t care about experience man, we care about intelligence and integrity. To put it succinctly, Obama is cool, Palin isn't.
After the debates the truth will emerge to millions of voters!
"Jesus was a community organizer.
Senator Obama served in the state legislature for 8 (eight) YEARS. Senator Obama has served as a U.S. Senator for over 3 (three) years. He was a Constitutional Law Professor for 10 (ten) years. He has visited Iraq 2 (two) times, January 2006 and July 2008, was briefed by General Patraeus. Please do not ignore his experience.
With every generational switch, the old timers claim the experience. It is the judgment of Bush, McCain and Palin that repulses. Trickle down is a demonstrated failure not just compared to the economic stimulus from sending the money to trickle up but the opposite of any program that can support progress and prosperity. The Republicans have considerably enlarged the federal government without improving it. Obama showed the latent popularity of Americans on his world tour, a popularity the current administration has savaged. The Bill of Rights is not merely a liberal document, it is a wise set of rules for the rule of a democracy. Republican contempt for their oath of office is not merely evil, it is stupid.
Obama has to stop taking the high road. We can't allow history to repeat itself again with the swiftboating of Obama by an illiterate, politically inexperienced, back-woods hick who learned how to lie at a very early age. The thought that this radical religious freak who believes that God wanted us to go to war, among others things, would have access to the oval office is a fightening thought. How can the overall stability of our country be placed in the hands of a woman who's judgement, and knowledge is so flawed. The whole truth about this woman has to get out, not fluff pieces that have been put out by some magazines.
Something about Palin scrambled the otherwise steady nerves of the Obama campaign?
No, it merely scrambled the already hysterical nerves of the MainStreamMedia.
It really did no more than that.
But it is the same MSM which is telling US that OUR nerves our scrambled.
If that were the case, we would not be here, calmly communicating our concerns to anyone who will listen.
The MSM ought to be ashamed.
They are not doing their job.
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