Governor Palin's Reading List

Fascist writer Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that "some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies."

It might be worth asking Governor Palin for a tally of the other favorites from her reading list.

Comments

[laaleelaalee]

This is what I don't get:The fact that "Alaska is close to Russia" is not adequate foriegn policy experience should be obvious.The fact that they continued to lie about Palin's record, after being called on those lies, was ridiculous.The fact that Palin didn't have an opinion about Iraq until recently should shock people.The fact that she tied Iraq to 9-11 should show you how il- prepared she is to discuss the subject or be in a position to make any decisions in regards to it.The fact that they have now courted war with Russia should scare the hell out of people.The fact that their campaign is being run and advised by the very people who are ruining this country should be alarming.Phil Gramm and Bill Davis alone!Just this week McCain said that fish love the oil rigs.He didn't know that Spain was part of Europe.Then there's McCain's troubled history and ties to the S&L crisis & theKeating 5 scandal. I won't even get into all of the issues with his policies and voting record in the Senate, or his horrible failures to support our veterans,or the fact that McCain sold his political soul to the CNP,all of the many details are not really the point of this response.The point I'm making here is that If you simply examine all of the chinks in McCain's armor it seems like a no brainer.

[GotRights]

This is the scariest part: In 2000, George W. Bush was just as blatantly incompetent and ill-prepared. He faced an opponent of vastly superior experience and intelligence and integrity. Yet almost half the voters voted for Bush.

" ... If you simply examine all of the chinks in McCain's armor it seems like a no brainer."

In 2000, if you simply examined all the chinks in Bush's armor, it seemed like a no-brainer.

[thinkinggrandma]

I agree this is the scariest part, G W Bush was elected in 2000 and again 2004.
We all new how dumb and foolish he is by 2004. We all knew he lied to get us into this unforgivable war. And yet, he was re-elected.
Headlines in todays paper read McCain leading in Ohio. We should be very afraid, we might be able to survive McCain for 4 years but if the unthinkable should happen; we will never survive Palin.
We have no choice if this country is to survive, we need to vote for Obama!

[JCangus]

With 5i.3 million morgages in the US, per the Census Bureau, and a default rate of 10% on an average mortgage of $300,000 - the forclosures are valued at $5 trillion with a remaining defavued assest value of $50 trillion, instead of the $75 trillion carried on the books. Are the homeowners the problem? Probably not. With a $7 trillon bailot. But their is enought cash in the bailout for the brokers, appraisers and lenders to make their money once again. Oh well!

[lanlee]

Robert,

McCain/Palin is the final coup of the communists ithoughtfully brought to you by your friendly, neighbourhood Republican party. Their intentions have been proven in their wording of the 'Bailout' legislation which not only 'transfers' powers from Congress and the Senate to the Executive branch of the government, but drafts banks and other financial institutions as 'agents of the U.S. government.'

Ok I freely admit that I'm Canadian, but I know tyranny when I hear it.

Sounds a lot like Iraq doesn't it? Scare the masses, then tell them you have a plan which, conveniently, repeals their civil and constitutional rights as Americans. Then you tell them that there's a only a small window of time in which to act so that they pass the legislation without looking at it twice let alone understanding what it means. Very simply, money is power and by seizing the nations' bank and financial institutions they seize power from the American people.

This is the exact reason why the founding fathers of the U.S. elected to have three branches of government with a 'check-and-balance' system - so that no one branch of the government would have dominant control over the country.

They fought the American Revolution in 1776 and so should you in 2008. After all, you called it in your book in 2004.

God Bless Robert. May you and your family stay safe in these troubled and uncertain times.

[solid]

It's the shock doctrine all over again.

[HelloooCanada]

i bet she read her kids "Where the Wild Things Are....Shot".

[beck]

The Palin Project

The neocons are filling goofy Palin's empty brain with their neocons garbage as we speak. She has been invted into the inner circle of the AEI. In fact, she is the PNAC's new project. They see her as a blank slate just as they saw George Bush as a blank slate before they filled his hollow cranium with their neo-Trotskyite trash.

[dana94591]

1984 anyone!!!

[HateLieCheatKillRepubWay]

Send this out to the O*bama campaign and the newies like Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Campbell Brown and Wolf Blitzer. Spread the word; let's see if it gows legs.

[iluvsam]

I really hope this makes the msm.

[tbirdalum]

Robert, its got to be "My Pet Goat" and Dickus Cheney's "How To Take Down Your Enemies With One Shot" and we do know she knows how to read. When its Karl Rove's speech's.


O for 08

[ianrthorpe]

Somehow I did not think SP would be reading The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists at bedtime.

http://greenteeth.blog.co.uk/2008/09/20/palin-s-resistible-march-to-the-presidency-4754297

[SantaFeStars]

Must agree with several posts here that Palin doesn't read much! And now the McCain camp wants to change the VP debate format so Sarah, the experienced one, won't be asked a tricked question by Biden! What a farce!

[FreedomCorpse]

Robert,

I believe the favorite reading material of the GOP is the book Karl Rove keeps under his pillow at night when he wants something to read and can't sleep. It's called Mein Kampf. Its their bible along with Milton Friedman annotations (modelled after Chile, circa 1973, with Pinochet)

Best regards,

[skyfish]

This would be funny if it weren't probably the truth...

[Forest]

Don't forget, "The Prince," by Nicolo Machavelli

[operalovr]

Mr. Kennedy, how I wish your father was still with us. He had a sharp mind, wonderful heart, and put the interests of the people first. You are a tremendous credit to him. Keep up the good fight. I am praying and working for an Obama victory this November. It will truly be a victory for all of us.........

[OrganOfThought]

The world would have been so completely different if both Kennedys, MLK, X, Ghandi and others would not have been assassinated, that I don't think I can even imagine how it would be.

Every major political problem that we have now I think would have been solved. This includes retirement, universal healthcare, human rights, world peace via the UN, fair global trade. Our entire society would be making its priority to create zero pollution energy and curing diseases. We'd be tracking our manned space flights to Mars.

The society we have now is a construct of the same people that murdered an entire generation's set of leaders.

Obama is just the beginning. If he can get elected and stay safe, others will follow. Many will follow. Even in the 60's progressive era, large segments of the population didn't agree with progress. That is also the case now. It has been that way in every society that progressed in all of history.

But, something is different this year. There is a movement, or the beginnings of a movement. We are just extra cautious and a bit cynical because of what happened 40 years ago.

If O wins, it will start to change.

[tellie]

Robert Kennedy was the brother of JFK, not the president. Robert was running for president when he was assassinated.

[lakat]

What's your damned point?

[moonie1]

My point is the fact that Robert Kenney, Jr. of all people would understand the historical significance and place where his father stood in relation to JFK, his desire to seek the presidency and the turmoil of the sixties.

[moonie1]

I certainly don't think the fact that Senator and Attorney General Robert Kennedy was the brother of President John F. Kennedy would be lost by Robert Kennedy, Jr. I think you, tellie, miss the point that the ultra-conservative right wing wanted anyone LIKE a JFK or Bobby Kennedy dead rather than risk having them lead our nation into something they fear... a nation that actually cares for those who are not the filthy rich and the need to change the status quo. Besides, Robert Kennedy, Jr. clarifies that it was during the lead up to his father becoming a viable candidate for the presidency that Pegler, also with dreams of the presidency, spouted such despicable words in 1965.

[jonolennon]

The Republican party reminds me of the old Confederates; desperately clinging to a society that encouraged oppressing their womenfolk and embracing slavery. Sarah Palin is redneck noise to my ears. Once Obama wins the election, she will be forgetten faster than a bad country western song! God bless the Kennedy's!

[ChristianEcon.com]

Palin: more earmarks per capita this year than any other governor.

http://www.therationalradical.com/transcripts/132transcript-earmarks.htm

[ChadCapellman]

Wouldn't it be great if, instead of one of the debates, the candidates had to take something of a "presidential SAT test"?

They basically get a question, a laptop (already turned on ... just in case that's an issue) And they have an hour to type each answer.

Then, the answers could be posted online for everyone to read and judge for themselves. Typos and spelling mistakes would help voters "relate" to the candidates, but we could also see what they were made of and how deep the well of insight ran with each of them. The problems of today's world really demand this type of understanding of the candidates.

Just a Sunday morning pipe dream ...

[2sunny]

An original idea........THANK-YOU!

This would be a REAL immersion into the candidates (rational thought) process "of how deep the well of insight ran with each of them."

On with the show, so to speak..........before we hand over the keys to the "peoples House"!

[timezone]

Great point, Chad.

It would be interesting to see the results of a test for all the candidates that included foreign, economic, environmental, health care, immigration policies and philosophies, as well as basic knowledge (like a map you'd have to print where all the states are in the U.S. and all the countries around world). And oh yeah, how long ago dinosaurs were on earth.

[BOSWED]

I guess you mean how many states there are. I have heard numbers as high as 57. I have heard that there is a president not prime minister of Canada. On foreign policy let's not just attack Iraq and Afghanistan let's go into Pakistan. I mean i'm not sure if these comments are meant to be directed at Obama, McCain, Biden or Palin. I trust the dinosaur remarks isn't referring to the Lizards of Satan statement of Ms. Palin. Democracies both Republic and Parliamentary form are styled as Government by amateurs. These amateurs who have proven a facility for getting elected hire partisan advisor experts and a permanent bureaucracy to know things about each portfolio. A leader can arise from anywhere they provide direction the experts tell them how to get there. Smart guys can either screw up Woodrow Wilson or excel Abraham Lincoln.

[lakat]

There would have to be a mechanism in place to make sure each candidate answered their own question without help, in their own words. I'm all for it! Good idea!

[BOSWED]

A mechanism Like a giant computer. Who would program it.? Why not forget people altogether and have a computer do it for us. A proctor would be put in place to monitor. How would you pass? This is the kind of stuff you get in Poli Sci 101. I remember having to compose an essay on whether any war can be considered a good war. You see its all a matter of perspective. A person could do wonderfully in your test but fail miserably as a leader. John F. Kennedy rose to the occasion in 1962. Nixon went to China in 1972. I am sure Adlai Stevenson would have done well on your test but how would he have done as a president. George McGovern, a brave man during World War I, would he have been able to accomplish what Nixon did with China. Winston Churchill was not a great student but he was a great leader many of his contemporaries Austin Chamberlain, Neville Chamberlain and the pride of Oxbridge were wonderfully schooled but were they great leaders. What about Bobby Kennedy since he is being discussed. He was hardly a liberal, especially as Attorney General. He eventually turned against the war but did not start his campaign till Eugene McCarthy was well on its way. McCain or Sarah Pallin may turn out to be excellent leaders to discount them because they are "empty headed' is an ad hominem attack and not worthy of honest discourse.

[BOSWED]

So you would be in favour of a meritocracy. This would mean that you wouldn't have to consider other factors such as cultural bias, disadvantages growing up and the like, no set asides. They would be assessed on their score. An man or woman who read a lot and studied much (having money would help since you could go to private schools and get a leg up on the public school crowd). Who would make up the questions? Would they be truly value free? How would you mark an answer as correct. I'm not sure wisdom comes from a lot of study. I found some of the wisest people I know have not read Thucydides or Herodutus and considered the import of the Melian debates. Now my same working class friend might have trouble with this SAT not being familiar with the style of answers. I mean the kids on the fast track can take those courses that guarantee an increase in as SAT, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT by teaching you how to answer questions. A man or woman who has read much but that may not translate into wisdom. They would have more information. But what would they do when Fort Sumter is fired upon or the Maine blows up or Russia decides to send missiles into Cuba. We don't know what a person is made of until a challenge arises. I guess you would conclude that somehow a test would tell you. I don't know.

[MBryant]

They used to have questions to qualify for voting and it REALLY matters who writes the questions. How do you craft those questions - I guess Fox News says they are "fair and balanced" - they should write them! (ha ha ha).

This is an awful awful idea -- sorry - keep thinking - the next one might be good.