Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Sarah Speaks

She gave a pretty good acceptance speech, Palin did -- she is an effective speaker. Took a couple cheap shots at Obama, but that's part of the deal -- and it will undoubtedly get folks to thinking she's tough. That will include the Democrats, I suspect, and having put the chip on her shoulder, I would expect to see somebody quick to knock it off.

You want to play? Fine. Catch this.

One of the reasons the D's have lost elections in the past is that they aren't quick enough to sling the mud back when it hits them. I believe they might have learned that lesson.

Gonna be interesting to watch.

Palid -- oops, typo, but an interesting one, I'mon leave it -- didn't really offer much more about who she is, and I think that should have been part of it. Some of her claims for what she did and didn't do for Alaska are going to be found wanting -- already had the PBS guys shaking their heads -- She told the feds she didn't want their Bridge to Nowhere -- but she took their money and didn't give it back.

Hello?

I don't much care for the shoot-the-wolves-and-bears-from-the-air stuff, either. It's one thing to sneak up on Bambi's mother on the ground, but it seems rather unsporting to do it from a helicopter. She's seen to many Die Hard movies, maybe.

If it turns out Palin forced a guy of of his job because he wouldn't fire her ex-brother-in-law from the state patrol, she's toast. Doesn't go with the "reformer" tag to be caught doing that kind of thing. But she's hired a lawyer, and maybe she's innocent.

I think the main effect of Palin's speech, for me, anyhow, was to delineate the differences between the R's and the D's. No clouds in the visions -- here's one, here is the other, choose the one that you like best.

Or, as is often the case, the one that you dislike least.

So far, the R's attempts to replace Obama with McCain as the candidate of change seem pitiful, and I think that will be a hard row to hoe. In order to be new and improved, you have to be new, and McCain has been there a while. He gave up the title of maverick when he rolled over on his back and let the Current Occupant scratch his belly at the previous Republican convention. I respected the guy until then. After that, not so much.

And all the whistling past the graveyard trying to show that Palin has more experience than Obama and Biden combined is a two-ton tub of cotton candy -- no substance and sure to rot your teeth if you eat it.

Leaving out the personal stuff about being willing make her daughter into the most infamous unwed pregnant teen on the planet -- which I personally don't think reflects the kind of thing a self-styled "hockey mom" would leap at the chance to do, the contention that being the mayor of Podunk and Governor of Alaska, with more bears than people (at least until the choppers get into the air) is better qualified than a couple of U.S. Senators to run the White House? Silly on the face of it. Last Governor of a big state, no previous chops save running a baseball team, who got the job is the Current Occupant, and we all see how well that went. War. Famine. Death. Can Pestilence be far behind?

Lot of style, Palin, but not much substance, and what there was of it was not to my taste. I could not, in good conscience, vote for anybody who opposes abortion in all cases, including rape or incest; is ready to drill all over Alaska and everywhere else there's an empty lot for oil that won't be a drop in the bucket -- and that not for ten years; nor keep the war in Iran going for a hundred years, if that's what it takes to win a "victory."

McCain isn't the right guy this time; neither is Palin the right woman. My opinion. And my vote will reflect it. Usually, I urge people to vote, regardless of their choice, to be part of the process. Not this time. If you want to vote for McCain/Palin, stay home. We'll be better off as a nation. Four more years of Almost George is a bad idea. Throw in Dr. Laura, it gets worse ...

20 comments:

Stephen Grey said...

I think they are just fucked.

This was not thought out at all and even the usual sessile democrats have smelled blood. The trouble is that it might be some sort of incredibly arcane and subtle Rove play designed to elicit attack behavior, but I really don't think so-- I really don't think Rove likes Mccain too much.

If they do get in, I think this sort of snap judgement is what we can look forward to during the upcoming nuclear standoff. I don't care so much anymore-- if they get voted in I think it will be about time for the incinerator.

J.D. Ray said...

Just watched McCain's speech. Not much of a barn burner, though it did have some good moments. I liked what he said about reforming education, but I like it every time a politician gets up and says it, and the only one I've seen do any reform is Bloomberg, or at least I heard he did (never been to NYC, can't judge).

Palin just grates on me when she speaks. It's a vocal quality thing, not anything with what she's saying, which never lands in my head because I can't stand to listen to her voice. I wasn't planning to vote for that team this time around anyway, so it doesn't much matter, but I can't be the only one so affected.

I noticed in McCain's speech that he kept using the same head movements that Bush uses. Creepy. I didn't think Rove dug that deep into his subject. Someone should check behind the podium to see if Rove's arm is up Sen. McCain's... well... you know.

Every time I hear this blather about how qualified Palin is to be veep, I want to ask the person what they think the Vice President does. I doubt they know. I know I'm unclear on it. So, how do you know she's qualified if you don't know what the job entails?

I noticed no one squawked at all about Biden as a VP pick. Nary a cough from either side. Says something about the guy. The proof in the pudding for Palin will be watching her against Biden in debates. I expect him to shred her like he did every Dem on the primary debate circuit. Sure, it didn't win him the election, but he knew what the hell he was talking about.

Also note that everyone is talking about how Palin's "executive experience" is so much better than Obama's, leaving out the fact that McCain's whole post-military career has been in Congress, with no executive experience either. All the pundits keep crossing up the comparison lines, Pres vs. VP. Keep your jobs straight, people.

Foo! Sixty-odd days and this is over. I can hardly wait.

Ed said...

I work with someone that has a family member that works on the force up there and worked with/for the guy who got fired - it looks like it WAS out of spite. Gee I wonder what will happen with the attorneys involved ---uh, uh, maybe they settle with a gag order?

evmick said...

"Usually, I urge people to vote, regardless of their choice, to be part of the process. Not this time. If you want to vote for McCain/Palin, stay home"

Ummmmmm....sorry....no can do.

For the last fifty or so years liberals have been making my life more difficult than it need be. If Sarah get
s up your nose so much I'd vote for her for NO OTHER reason than to return the favor.

HOWEVER....I kinda like her. Just plain folks. Just about everything you liberals see as negative about her I see as positive.

Finally some one I can vote FOR instead of just "the lesser of two evils".

Just think.....up to 4 years of "seasoning" and....

Sarah Barracuda in 2012....with Bobby.

The mind boggles.

Just keep on dissing her....every little bit helps.

Steve Perry said...

It used to be a free country, so you can still cast your vote as you choose this time around.

If you are happy with what the Current Occupant and his cronies have done to the country for the last eight years, vote for McCain and Palin -- you'll get more of the same. Huge debt, stupid wars, the rich'll get richer and the poor'll get poorer. You see the outfit Cindy McCain was wearing when she showed up on-stage at the RNC? Three hundred thousand bucks and change for the dress, shoes, and jewelry.

Guy who doesn't know how many houses he owns is not one of the common folks, sorry.

evmick said...

This is getting ridiculous.

It's still a free country. We, however, happen to be at war. Countries at war have some restrictions imposed by the constraints of war. When (if) we win the war they go away. It happened in all the wars we were in...to a much greater degree than now.

I wasn't speaking of McCain other than to say "the lesser of two evils". I don't happen to like McCain and if he'd picked almost anyone else I'd probably have sit out the election. There's very little to no difference between McCain and Obama from my point of view. Obama is somewhat worse.

As far as what Cindy McCain wears or doesn't wear? Who cares? She's a billionaire!!! She got that way by selling people like me beer. She can do what she wants to with what I paid her. Fair deal.

As far as McCain not knowing how many houses he has? Get real. People with big money have managers who handle their accounts, particularly since McCain is doing something else. One of the things these managers MIGHT invest money in is houses. Investment property. He might have a few or many or none depending on what the account manager did that week. His only safe answer was "I don't know". If he'd picked a number and it wasn't the right one ...well you know what the media would have done.

As far as "the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer"

Give me a break. The rich ARE getting richer. That's what rich people do....they make money. The poor are also getting richer...they turn into the middle class.

The middle class, by the way, are getting richer too. How many hundred millionaires are there in the world and how many of them live in the US?

The "poor" are incredibley upward mobile in the US. Poor one decade and middle class the next with rich kids...a lot of time. Bill Clinton for example. His momma was "poor". And O'bama. He's rich isn't he? He sends his kids to privat school! The "new poor" tend to be immigrants.

It's the American way.

Now....I was speaking of Sarah Barracuda. The way I see it she's an opportunity to break out of "business as usual" in DC and the Federal Government.

If the McCain/Palin ticket wins she'll serve as VP until McCain no longer is Pres. (how long? He's an old man...and in poor health) then either take over when he steps down or run for Pres herself.

Ideal chance to get a "real" conservative in office.

So go ahead and Bad Mouth her. Make us RedNecks MADD!!!!

See what happens.

evmick said...

Amazing.

You're a writer. Wrote some pretty good books too. I read them all and like them which read this blog.

But you're reading comprehension isn't worth a damn. You're complaining about things I didn't say.

Insulting too.

Thanks for the offer but I can figure out how to work a doorknob my ownself.

Steve Perry said...

Insulting? Aren't you the guy who said you'd vote for Palin just to get up my liberal nose? That liberals have been making your life harder for the last fifty years?

Funny, I don't recall doing anything to make your life harder. Talk to the Current Occupant's Saudi friends about the cost of diesel fuel, that wasn't my doing.

You use the word "liberal" as if it is a curse. It isn't. Go look up the word: Tolerant, unprejudiced, unbigoted, broad-minded, open-minded -- first terms you see.

Now, look up "conservative:"

Traditional, conventional, orthodox, old-fashioned, dyed-in-the-wool, hidebound, unadventurous.

Everything us liberals don't like about Palin, you do?

None of this is particularly conducive to a open conversation, and offering that I'm going to offend rednecks and had better watch out if I make 'em mad? You'll vote for somebody because I insult them? How smart does that make you?

We invaded somebody's country just because we could, and we have troops occupying and dying a long way from home, but unless I missed it, there's been no declaration of war. Lot of dead Americans and Iraqis and until we pulled into town, no threat there to us at all.

Nothing wrong with my reading comprehension. But, like Palin, if you are going to step into the kitchen and offer comments on liberal cooking, best be prepared to deal with the heat ...

Ed said...

Yeah - what he said!

evmick said...

If you'll allow me one additional comment.

In a previous comment I made some unkind statements which could be perceived as personal.

This was unintended as I ment to be addressing the argument rather than the person. I also made some statements which might be interpreted as advocating violence which I do not.

For all of the above I apologize.

Steve Perry said...

That's all it takes, EV. Long as we argue issues, I'll ease off on the personal stuff -- which I also admit I probably overdid ...

Pax.

Dave Chesser said...

Dems don't sling mud quick enough? Umm..okay.

I like Palin. And if this is all the lib crowd can drum up on her, then she should be okay if she doesn't do something stupid. So if this was the Palin/McCain ticket, then my vote would be clear.

But I couldn't sit through 30 sec. of McCain's speech. He isn't Bush-lite, he's worse.

I liked Obama, but the more I saw of him the more bland he became. What happened to change? No wonder McCain picked up that ball -- Obama fumbled it bad. Joe Biden as VP? What the heck?

I have no idea who I'll hold my nose and vote for this time. Either way, we'll get bigger government and less civil liberties. What the hell kind of choice is that?

Steve Perry said...

Well, I was raised not to hit girls, too. Thing is, after forty-odd years in martial arts, including coming up on fourteen in silat, I have been thumped a few times by girls enough to know that if they step into the ring ready to fight, if you don't hit back, you can get killed. Girl with a knife in her hand is deadly.

You never heard the old Army proverb, If you are captured by the Indians, don't let them give you to the women?

Chivalry only works when certain niceties are observed.

If you have a woman who shoots bears and wolves and claims to be tough, talks tough, and throws punches, then she doesn't get to hide behind her own skirt any more.

So talk the talk if fine, but walk the walk is truth, and as soon as Sarah started taking shots at the other side, she's playing with big boys, and to treat her any different than you would one of the other boys is condescending.

She's fair game, and if I see that walk isn't matching talk, I'm gonna call her on it. Anything less would be dishonest.

evmick said...

Steve:

You're right.

Kipling also had something to say about wimmen "on afghanastan's plains".

Doesn't matter.

Hit our gurl. We vote.

Steve Perry said...

Yeah, it does matter. If you are gonna vote for her just because we hit her, then that doesn't speak well of your smarts -- it's completely reactive and not merit-based.

"Well, I don't like her, but if you take a whack at her, I'mon vote for her." is the wrong reason to do so.

I think you're gonna vote for her no matter what I or anybody else has to say, so the notion that if we don't attack her, you won't, is disingenuous.

It's an empty threat. She's already got your vote. And by association, McCain gets it, too.

Since she's pulled her knife and is waving it around pretty good, all bets are off. She is a player and she wasn't drafted, she volunteered. No free pass. Woman is happy to be known as the barracuda, she needs to know there are guys with spearguns around.

Everything she says something stupid -- which I expect more of -- or something that is against what I believe is fair and right, I am going to point it out. High, wide, and repeatedly. Lot of folks are single-issue voters and set, I can't affect them. But some voters are undecided and if by me pointing out flaws in a candidate I might convince them to choose somebody else, then I am duty-bound to do so.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, Edmund Burke wrote, is that good men do nothing.
I truly believe that the current administration is evil, and that keeping a Republican in the White House for another four years would allow much of what evil has arisen to continue. War, famine, pestilence, and death. Thank you, no.

Not all Republicans are bad all the time. But theCurrent Occupants and the ones who want to replace them are.

Vote away. I'm not trying to change your mind.

Anonymous said...

Folks. Before the class war starts, nose around the Chicago Tribune editorials, et.al. for info on Sen. Obama. Chicago politics. The Daley Machine. As an ex-Chicagoan, I simply don't believe it's possible to climb the political ranks (let alone the Dem ranks) without collecting _a lot_ of I-owe-you's to Hizzoner...

http://www.hizzonertheplay.com/

evmick said...

Steve said:
"I truly believe that the current administration is evil,"

Well I see no reason to think you're not telling the truth so I must believe that you believe that.

BUT....it so happens that I pretty much feel the same way about Democrats. Not all democrats..some might be pretty fine people....probably are... ....but their higher ups.....ewww.

Spending a tour in Asia has this tendency....did for me anyway.

But the point I'm groping for....

Assuming we're both reasonable people. Yet we have totally opposite views of politics.

Why is that I wonder?

Steve Perry said...

Maybe because I kept going, my attitude changed.

I used to be a Republican. Back in the day when that party could hold its meetings in a phone booth in Baton Rouge.

I vote for Nixon. The first time.

Then I became a Democrat.

I voted for Bill Clinton. Both times.

Now, I'm an Independent because I don't want to be identified with either party. And because the knee-jerk view of how I think when I claim to be a liberal is wrong.

I voted for Bill, but I support the 2nd Amendment. And no, I don't think Obama will destroy it -- it's been tried by better men than he.

I belong to the NRA ... and the ACLU.

I believe that what George W. Bush and his crew have done to our Republic is criminal, and yes, evil.
Blowing Afghanistan to bits after 9/11, I was onboard.

We have no fucking business in Iraq. It has cost us billions that will eventually top a trillion dollars, tens of thousands of U.S. solider wounded, thousands killed, a hundred thousand Iraqis dead, and it was, is, and always will be a no-win situation.

Gas is pushing four bucks a gallon again, U.S. prestige worldwide is in the toilet, unemployment is up and getting worse, the economy is in the tank, we went from a budget surplus under Bill to a nine trillion dollar debt under Bush and the R's -- more debt than all the presidents before him racked up.
Homeland Security doesn't make me feel safer, and I assume that Big Brother is listening to every phone call I make, and reading this blog, to no good end.

What is it you like about the administration? I can't see anything. Worst president ever, and McCain is is more of the same.

Obama, whatever his faults, would have to work 24/7 for eight years to come anywhere close to fucking up the country, and frankly, I don't think he could come close.

Time to dust this broom.

Steve Perry said...

At the level of presidental politics, they are all bent.
I don't think Obama walks on water. I just believe he'll do a better job of getting the country back on track after the train wreck that is George W. Bush than McCain.

And if McCain wins and Palin has to step in when he falls over dead -- possible, given his health -- we will will be truly screwed, because she doesn't have the chops to do the job. Doesn't. Have. The. Chops.

And even if she did, I don't agree her view of life.

Woman doesn't think people had anything to do with global warming. Wants to see Creationism taught on a part with evolution. Wouldn't allow a twelve-year-old girl raped by a stranger to have an abortion if she got pregnant, nor an abortion for that same girl molested by her own father if she got pregnant.

I find these things, stupid, vile, detestable, and without any merit in a civilized society.

Other than that, she seems like a nice person.

Ed said...

I have seen it and have said it before "They are politicians" They can and do cater to many factions but they always have a core base of fans (fanatics) in our system that is little changing and thankfuly for the most part cancel each other out.

There is a basic goodness,strength, common sense, decency and inteligence that needs to be in/with and or around the people that lead, be it politicians or any other type of leader here or a far and if it isn't there - many more people/institutions, the world/enviroment suffer that need not.

I think with Obama/Biden - they will probably have a like minded congress - it seems to be our/the worlds best chance to get the most things right and positive done and our troops home or where they are needed to finish a job that should have and probably would have been done long ago without Iraq.

OB1 - (ha, I get that one Lucas) - would seem to be able to work together better and not have to spend time covering for one or the other or helping the "Largest transfer of wealth in history" - be it to already rich people here and abroad - that trickle down just isn't trickling far enough down or around enough to suite me and I don't think that is a non capitalistic view, I think it is a just view. We need to invest more in this country. - duh, like no one can see that from what's been happening.

I know, I know, OB1 will get theirs too - what a retirement package but I think it will be earned with what they will work with and for - us. At least that's how it looks to me.

But damn those special interests groups - lobbiest and their politicians.

I think the oil barrons here and a far are just getting more than theirs while they can - they see the writing on the wall.

And come on technology too! We have so many great minds in this country.

One Independent if rambling view. I am tired and hitting the sac. Take care all.