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This page contains a single entry by Andrew Breza published on September 3, 2008 10:20 PM.

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Sarah Palin is incredible

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

Image via Wikipedia

I just finished watching Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention. She has renewed my interest in a race that had me jaded for the past several months.

The media has been building up the conventions as little more than a time to attempt to pick up former Hillary Clinton supporters. Palin's speech proved otherwise.

She painted a picture of small town America and big ambitions. She touted her record of success and didn't pull any punches when referring to The Obama campaign. In short, she delivered exactly the speech necessary to awaken a demoralized and dejected campaign.

McCain lost 2 points on Rasmussen's poll shortly after announcing Palin as his pick, but that was corrected and he began raking in the money as America got to know her better.

Jonah Goldberg hit the nail on the head before her speech in his recent piece for NRO:
"This is my sixth Republican National Convention, and I've never seen anything remotely like the excitement Palin has unleashed. Some compare it to the enthusiasm for Ronald Reagan in 1976 or 1980. Even among the cynics and nervous strategists, there's a kind of giddiness over John McCain's tactical daring in selecting the little-known Alaskan."

Even with the minor scandals that inherently make themselves known in a presidential race, Sarah Palin is showing her dedication to conservative principles and her readiness to be the next vice president of the United States.

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24 Comments

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Is that Moose Fur she is wearing? Poor Moose! :-)

Andrew, I raise your Goldberg quote with Peggy Noonan's, "It's Over", as in McCain' doesn't have a prayer now.

How about her seeking federal tax dollar quality health care as VP that she will work diligently to deny to the rest of American families for their tax dollars?

A wee bit of hypocrisy here? Were she to be VP, would she advocate for the same taxpayer subsidized quality health insurance for other special need's children that she will receive? In a word, NO!

Will she truly work for alternate energy sources to oil and gas knowing oil and gas provides her state's citizens with a rebate check on royalties each year? In a word, NO!

Will she advocate for raising taxes on oil companies for the benefit of consumers as she did as governor of Alaska? In a word, NO!

Palin revealed a lot about herself tonight, and it wasn't in the part of the speech about her family being just ordinary like everyone else's. FactCheck.Org is going to have a field day with her speech.

Obama raising taxes on working middle class Americans? A bold faced lie and she knew it as she passed it through her lips, even if she didn't understand the rest of the content the GOP speechwriters wrote for her. She has joined the Karl Rove/Dick Cheny camp of lies and deceptions. And that pretty much says everything any independent voter needs to know about Sarah Palin. She did herself and her political career a deep disservice with this speech tonight.

Had she been honest and forthright and given to her opponents while accurately critiquing their agenda, she could have really made a mark for herself. But, her inexperience in the big league of politics would not permit such political maturity as Obama showed to McCain's military record and POW experience.

I do admit though, she delivered the speech well as a reader of a prompter, and she energized those in the Convention Hall. That much she has to get credit for. Anymore, we will have to wait for the polls to reveal.

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Opinions can vary, depending on how much RED or BLUE Koolaid someone drinks.

UUHHMMmmmm. . . what is Palin wearing in that picture you posted?

I must say, she looks lovely, even covered with a dead animal.

However, she'd better keep an eye out for PETA.

Anyway, both conventions are pathetic, because both avoided adequately addressing a myriad of issues (e.g. illegal immigration, regressive and regressive taxation, massive debt, bad monetary policy, these other abuses causing these deteriorating economic conditions), and there's no reason to seriously believe anything will get better, unless enough voters finally get fed-up enough to back up their rhetoric and match their 9% approval ratings for Congress with 9% re-election rates for Congress (instead of repeatedly rewarding do-nothing Congress with 85%-to-90% re-election rates).

One thing I noticed, the Republican convention seems to have a far smaller attendence. There certainly were a lot of empty seats in that stadium.
What's up with that?
HMMMMmmmmmmmm . . . is that an omen of 7-NOV-2008?
After all, Republicans lost 35 seats in Congress on 4-NOV-2006, and are likely to lose some more seats on 7-NOV-2008.
Are they gonna blame that on Gustav?
I got a real kick out of Hucksterbee talking about less government, when it was the Republicans that grew the federal government to nightmare proportions, and started a pre-emptive war based on falsehoods.

At any rate, the voters have the government that the voters elect (and re-elect, and re-elect, and re-elect , . . . , at least until that finally becomes too painful).

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Don't you recognize the Moose Fur, d.a.n. Poor Moose was standing in the way of her Alaskan natural gas pipeline so she decided to get a fur out of removing it.

And I used to love Rocky and BullMoose. Well, that's what Republicans do when living things get in their way. Bring out the guns and bible and justify the killing as either profitable or patriotic.

Not like Democrats who are always so drunk on spending other people's money that they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if they even owned a gun. At least Mooses are fairly safe around Democrats. I heard the Mooses held a convention in Alaska some time ago and sent a letter petitioning to be the Democratic mascot, but, the Murkowski family intercepted the request and buried it. Would not do to have an Alaskan animal as the Democratic replacement for the Ass they have now. :=)

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David wrote: Obama raising taxes on working middle class Americans? A bold faced lie and she knew it as she passed it through her lips, even if she didn't understand the rest of the content the GOP speechwriters wrote for her. She has joined the Karl Rove/Dick Cheny camp of lies and deceptions.
That's right. Lies.

The Tax Policy Center Tax did a comparison of Obama's and McCain's tax plans:

(1) http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/08/11/20080811elex-taxes0811.html
(2) http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/411693_CandidateTaxPlans.pdf

Here is the bottom line from the Tax Policy Center:
If enacted, the Obama and McCain tax plans would have radically different effects on the distribution of tax burdens in the United States:

  • (a) The Obama tax plan would make the tax system significantly more progressive by providing large tax breaks to those at the bottom of the income scale and raising taxes significantly on upper-income earners.

  • (b) The McCain tax plan would make the tax system more regressive, even compared with a system in which the 2001–2006 tax cuts are made permanent. It would do so by providing relatively little tax relief to those at the bottom of the income scale while providing huge tax cuts to households at the very top of the income distribution.

. . .
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center says:
  • (a) Obama's proposals would indeed increase taxes for small businesses, seniors and families, but only if their income was more than $250,000. Most small businesses, seniors and families would get tax cuts under the Obama plan.

  • (b) McCain's tax plan offers the biggest breaks to high-income families and businesses, while Obama focuses on those earning less than $250,000.
    Two-thirds of Obama's tax cuts would go to families with incomes of $65,000 or less, according to the Tax Policy Center. Only 6 percent of McCain's tax cuts would benefit those families.
    The Tax Policy Center estimates that both plans would raise the deficit - McCain's by $4.2 trillion over 10 years and Obama's by $2.8 trillion over the same period.

Is isn't a good time for Republican politicians, and the Republicans are likely to lose 20 to 30 more seats in Congress (similar to the 35 seats lost on 4-NOV-2006)..

And this E-Mail that has been circulating about, which compares Obama's and McCain's tax plans, is a fraud:

  • http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/would_obama_tax_my_profits_if_i.html

  • http://www.whereistheoutrage.net/wordpress/2008/08/05/republican-e-mail-on-obama-tax-plan/

  • http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/594/ (PolitiFact.com)

  • http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/would_obama_tax_my_profits_if_i.html (Fact Check.org)

  • http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/taxes.asp (Snopes)

  • http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/government/a/tax_changes.htm (Urban Legends)

  • http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/23418.html

  • http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/07/tax-foundatio-1.html

  • http://mediamatters.org/items/200806120006

  • http://forum.brokeroutpost.com/loans/forum/2/233187.htm
  • No wonder so many Republicans believe Obama will raise their taxes . . . they've been feasting on Republican lies.

    I'm not a fan of either of the front-runner candidates (McCain and Obama), but most Americans will like Obama's tax plan better, because they have finally figured out that the current tax system is regresssive (i.e. taxes the wealthy at a smaller percentage than most Americans), as evidenced by Warren Buffet who paid 17.7% in total federal income taxes on $46 Million in year 2006, while his secretary paid 30% in total federal taxes on $60K.

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    How is she incredible?

    -She's ordinary, education is mediocre at best, she's not a clear thinker- shes more of a puppet, her short term as a governor has a scandal, she put wasilla into 22 million in debt (the opposite of republican ideology), and she offers no inspiration to Americans.

    First of all, I don't want some ordinary person running and possibly winning the 2nd highest spot. If I wanted that I would write in my mother on the ballet each year. I want someone I can look up to, in other words, someone who is better than me, that I can strive to become.

    2ndly, clearly her education is mediocre, I mean come on, University of Idaho...I guess its better than McCain graduating in the bottom of his class...and not to mention Bush sneaking his way into Yale on name (and money.)

    She's definetly not a clear thinker. The republicans keep applauding people who stay the course. Most times staying the course ISN'T a good thing, and those of us lucky enough to go to good universities were taught that things change, its the nature of life. But when it changes, we should see it comming and be able to adapt rather than continually veer off course. For example, let's say global warming does exist and is caused by humans (assumption), multiple scenarios could arise.
    Let's say in 20 years we find proof that global warming was really caused by us and it is too late. Would you be happy with someone who stayed firm with their conviction in 2008 that it is not caused by us? Wouldn't you want a leader who realized, hey it might be because of us, it might not be, the only way to protect us is to cover all angles...if your too ignorant and chose plan A then God help us all.

    Now, the reason Obama is going to win in a complete landslide is because none of these polls are taking into consideration younger college aged students. I have some friends in college and every one of them that didn't feel like voting in 2004 is getting up to vote for Obama. They have also said that the vibes around all campus' are excitement and inspiration from Obama to get up and do something. In other words, they feel like for once they are actually being included in the political process rather than preached too by old, white, rich men who are still stuck in the baby boomer days. I even have friends who have decided to turn down prestigeous internships to become more involved in their communities. Yes, the very communities Sarah Palin laughed and mocked last night. How ridicolous was that? Aside from the fact that she just pissed off every community organizer in the country (and there are a lot of them), it also proves how bad her judgement and thinking skills are. She actually mocked people who are helping their communitees! If you can't see that then once again, GOD HELP US!

    Lastly, I don't like how she spent her whole speech criticizing democrats, and especially Obama. It would've been nice to see some issues or just something that we could use to gauge where she stands. The amount of attacking, the deception, and the misdirection was ridicolous. Here's this lady who no one knew a mere week ago talking down to someone who went through an extremely hard fought primary with 18 months of campaigning. Regardless of whether you support Obama's stance, the people voted in him, he spent his time campaigning in every little town in every corner of America, he didn't do it so that some week old governor of a state with more polar bears than people could berade him! I mean he even stuck his neck out for her and defended the media's blasting of his family and this is how she repays him? Berading his work? Lying to America?

    Please, 2 Ivy league degrees, 12 years as a law professor, a some time on the state legislature and senate is fine by me if it beats some nitwit from Alaska and some old foggy who should be retired in Arizona rather than representing it.

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    LA Hanna replied to Viyer06 at: :
    5:36 PM, 09 04 2008 | Permalink

    Yiyer06

    From all appearances at the Convention, Sarah Palin is someone who Republican supporters can and will look up to. In fact, it appears they may look up to her more than John McCain. Talk about putting the old cart before the new horse.

    Seriously, GOPAC I read earlier today has been grooming Palin for some time, with the training to fashion rhetoric that appeals to the far right, while not alienating the moderate center. This is why her speech last night was devoid of the substantive issues like economics, Iraq exit strategy, and Medicare/Soc. Sec.

    It is also why she is being kept away from the media for a few days after the convention speech. It is to prepare her further with rote memorized replies to the tough issue and policy questions which will be lobbed at her.

    I absolutely oppose the McCain ticket on nearly every issue, but, it does no one any good to engage in derogatory dialogue about her personally as she did with Obama. Let her be the pit bull which reminds the public of Dick Cheney, if she thinks that will help her career.

    The way to deal with Palin and McCain is on the details of the important issues facing our nation like Social Security, Medicare, border security, deficit spending and taxation, good wage job losses, pension plan losses, Roe v. Wade, and executive power overreach in an unconstitutional manner. Critique the McCain/Palin on not addressing those issues, or, if they respond on those issues, tear their answers apart for the failures inherent within them.

    This election will either be about the issues facing Americans or, it will be about mudslinging and character assassination. It is up to us, the bloggers and voters to insure it is about the issues.

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    I'm not sure if it was politcal genious or dumb luck, but the Republicans have bated the democrats into making experience the number one topic of the campaign. Maybe the only topic where McCain wins (without having to sell his soul to the party line).

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    Brian, seems to me Obama didn't need any baiting on the experience issue as evidenced by his selection of Joe Biden as VP.

    If McCain wanted to make experience the issue, Palin was the wrong choice. Judgment call? Another issue being baited, but by the Obama camp.

    But, these are tactics. The moderate and Independent voters that will decide this election are likely to do so on the basis of policy agendas and details in the plans.

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    "Sarah Palin is showing her dedication to conservative principles and her readiness to be the next vice president of the United States."

    Andrew have you stopped to think that this dedication to conservative principles may be a problem. We, as a Country, cannot continue to borrow and spend and expect to remain a strong viable nation. As mayor she left her town $20 mil in debt, how can you justify your statement the she is ready to be the next VP knowing she is so fiscally irresponsible?

    Failed principles need to be changed, to think that borrow and spend economics is something to be proud of suggests that she is not ready for a higher office. Rewarding such behavior doesnt bode well for your party.

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    I think Palin was the perfect choice to make experience the topic and the Dems fell right into it. The Republicans know that the VP has no bearing on the election, remember Dan Quayle, of course based on her speach Palin is no Dan Quayle! Now the Dems are on record for questioning experience and the Republicans are drooling over the comparison between the real candidates Obama vs. McCain. I think it was genius.

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    WHY REPUBLICANS LOVE SARAH SO MUCH ...
    I know a few people that live in Alaska... it is not the friendliest place for people of color!

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    Zachary Petit said at :
    12:46 PM, 09 08 2008 | Permalink

    Just a few things to say about this article.

    This seems like a last-ditch effort by the Republican party to stir up a race that (as Viyer06 has predicted) will most likely end up in a landslide if the youngest generations get up and vote. There are a few points in the main article that I would like to argue.

    "Palin's speech proved otherwise." I could buy that, if it was infact "Palin's speech." Most of this speech was written by one of the Bush Administration's speech writers, and was clearly intended to be made as general as possible for any candidate the party might have picked (indeed, the speech was being drafted before Palin had been selected by the party). Palin's personal story was obviously tacked on after the fact. Now, I'm not saying that the Democrats don't do the same thing, but the difference is that Obama's speech was built entirely for him. Every word of his speech would have sounded out of place spoken by anyone other than Barack Obama. Palin's speech sounded as though any number of candidates could have spoken it; any female candidate could have spoken it after many of the changes had been made after her selection.

    In short, we have not been shown the Gov. Palin that we need to see. We have been shown the Republican party's Gov. Palin, the Republican party's attack dog. And again, I am not arguing that the Democrats' use of Sen. Biden is any different. There has just been a disproportionate amount of attention given to Palin lately due mostly (in my opinion) to her gender, good looks, and interesting back-story.

    Secondly, if the McCain campaign is fishing for topics to dominate Obama with then sure, the experience avenue is the way to go. But we've all heard that story so many times; Obama has very little experience with any part of our government. Fine. The introduction of Palin does not make him less experienced. It may throw his lack of experience more into the lime-light. But as I've said, we've all heard that. No one is going to be surprised when McCain runs another ad about Obama's lack of experience. But the public will be surprised (especially moderate Republicans) when McCain cannot hold a candle to Obama when debating issues. Obama has taken great strides to explain his position and plans on important issues in moderate detail. All McCain has done is talk about fighting. Obama clearly has the advantage here, and this is where the race will be won and lost.

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      • "Sarah Palin is incredible"
    What's so incredible about a all of these lies and twisting of the truth?
    • Sarah Palin’s much-awaited speech at the Republican National Convention proved her to be short on facts when it came to touting her own record and going after Obama’s. Palin may have said "Thanks, but no thanks" on the "Bridge to Nowhere", though not until Congress had pretty much killed it already. But that was a sharp turnaround from the position she took during her gubernatorial campaign, and the town where she was mayor received lots of earmarks during her tenure.
    • Palin’s accusation that Obama hasn’t authored “a single major law or even a reform” in the U.S. Senate or the Illinois Senate is simply not a fair assessment. Obama has helped push through major ethics reforms in both bodies, for example.
    • The Alaska governor avoided some of McCain’s false claims about Obama’s tax program – but her attacks still failed to give the whole story.
    • Rudy Giuliani, who introduced Palin, was also factually challenged as he sometimes was when he was still in the presidential race. Giuliani also said McCain had been a fighter pilot. Actually, McCain’s plane was the A-4 Skyhawk, a small bomber. It was the only plane he trained in or flew in combat, according to McCain’s own memoirs.
    • Giuliani also distorted the time line and substance of Obama’s statements about the conflict between Russia and Georgia. In fact, there was much less difference between his statements and those of McCain than Giuliani would have others believe.
    • But Mike Huckabee may have laid the biggest eggs of all:
        Finally, Huckabee told conventioneers and TV viewers that Palin got more votes when she ran for mayor of Wasilla than Biden did running for president. Not even close. The tally: Biden, 79,754, despite withdrawing from the race after the Iowa caucuses. Palin, 909 in her 1999 race, 651 in 1996.
    • And McCain keeps trying to mislead people about taxes. McCain keeps saying over and over, Obama is going to raise your taxes. There's only one minor little detail missing from that attempt to deceive voters. Only people making above $250K will see a tax increase. OOOOPPPPPPssssss. How convenient to omit that minor detail. McCain is a liar by omission. Here are the facts, for those who are interested in true facts. The Tax Policy Center Tax did a comparison of Obama's and McCain's tax plans:
    • McCain falsely claimed that Obama’s health care plan would "force small businesses to cut jobs" and would put "a bureaucrat ... between you and your doctor." In fact, the plan exempts small businesses, and those who have insurance now could keep the coverage they have.
    • McCain called for "reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs," but as in the past failed to cite a single program that he would eliminate or reduce.
    But, perhaps it will work for the most blindly partisan voters, who aren't likely to ever let facts get in the way of pulling the party-lever?

    Not to play favorites, here's Obama's FactChecking: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/factchecking_obama.html

    However, in my opinion, McCain is more guilty of bigger whoppers.
    Both Obama's and McCain's voting records stink on illegal immigration.
    And neither Obama or McCain can answer one simple question:

    • Where will the money come from to merely pay the INTEREST on $53 Trillion of nation-wide debt , much less the money to reduce the current PRINCIPAL debt of $53 Trillion, when that money does not already exist? Especially when now, 80% of the U.S. population owns only 17% (or less) of all wealth, and 1% owns 40% of all wealth (up by 20% from 20% in year 1976); a wealth disparity gap that has never been worse since the Great Depression.

      • Zachary Petit wrote: This seems like a last-ditch effort by the Republican party to stir up a race that (as Viyer06 has predicted) will most likely end up in a landslide if the youngest generations get up and vote.
    Maybe. At this point, I don't think McCain will win, and I don't think the polls are an accurate reflection, since many polls use land-lines, but many young voters only have cell-phones.

    At any rate, the voters have the government that the voters elect (and re-elect, and re-elect, and re-elect , . . . , at least until that finally becomes too painful.

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    HAHAHA I LOVE HOW TWO PEOPLE WITH BARELY ANY EDUCATIONAL MERIT (PALIN AND MCCAIN) ARE PREACHING ABOUT EDUCATION REFORM.

    PLEASE LEAVE THE EDUCATIONAL STUFF TO THE GUY WITH 2 IVY LEAGUE DEGREES...HE MIGHT KNOW WHAT HES TALKING ABOUT.

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    Zachary Petit replied to Viyer06 at: :
    1:55 PM, 09 09 2008 | Permalink

    @Viyer06

    In the future, try not to use cap locks. Especially when talking about higher education. Cap locks make you look like you're yelling and/or uneducated, which works against the contents of your post.

    About that topic though, I would have felt better about voting for Obama/Biden if they hadn't attended such prestigious institutions. People tend to make many business and political connections at these institutions that turn into special interests in congress and the white house, which clearly our country can no longer support.

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    Sorry about the caps, the caps lock was stuck on the computer I was on and I didn't want to hold down shift while I typed.


    Now, onto the topic.

    Your point is very valid that special interests are created with wall street, hedge funds, corporate execs, who predominantly graduate from northeast and Midwestern schools. However, I think it is ridiculous to say our leaders shouldn't be from the best schools. Our leaders should be the best of us. They should not be the type of people ordinary Americans like to have beers with. They should not be ordinary Americans that like to party excessively. All of these claims are exactly what people wanted when they voted for Bush. Someone they felt comfortable around because they could relate to them. While relating is sometimes a good thing, our leaders should relate on issues, but there personalities should not be that of typical Americans. They are representing us in the global network, they need to AT LEAST make us look presentable, sophisticated, and intelligent, rather than silly, uncreative or just plain dumb (like we have been portrayed the last 8 years.)

    I think it should almost be a requirement that our leaders have a degree above just a bachelor's. Bachelor's degrees are hardly impressive when running for the highest office in the land. Not to say a regular bachelor's degree isn't something to be proud of, it truly is, but when you are running for higher positions, in this case, the highest, I feel the analytical rigor and intelligence one needs exceed what a bachelor's degree (basically an extension of a high school diploma) can give. When you are talking about as complex a position as being a CEO of a fortune 100 company or president, you should need to demonstrate that you are qualified analytically for the job. Meaning you should have not only a bachelor's but a Master's, JD, or PHD, these are degrees highly touted, and extremely hard to attain especially for the most challenging institutions.

    Of course the special interests play a role because many of these people you become friends with while at these extremely prestigeous places, but that doesn't mean we should vote a president who graduates at the bottom of his class, or a VP who hopped from crummy school to more crummy schools just to get a bachelors in journalism.

    Here we have a President right now that clearly, and the evidence is on my side, didn't have the merits to be accepted at Yale, yet he went there, graduated at the bottom, all because his dad's last name was Bush. Look where that took us. We have a laughing stock president that the whole world thinks is a moron including his own people. He has no analysis on any important topic. He follows everything his cronies say. He never challenges conventional methods. I mean, do we really want another President as uneducated as Bush analyzing extremely important and very complex issues such as economics, energy and science, education, etc.

    Barack has denounced all lobbying multiple times over the last 2 years that hes been in the spotlight. He helped engineer ethics reform that got rid of lobbyists paying for members of congress' lunches and private jets.

    He has shown that his judgement is exceptional on all matters of foreign policy. Everything he has wanted, the Bush administration has started to do, and John Mccain has started to adopt, if not steal, many of Obama's views because he knows they are correct. For the first time since Clinton (Yale and Yale Law on merit and no name), we have a president that is able to analyze the situation rather than spout irrational, emotionally charged gimmicks at the people that appear to fire them up but are not the right decisions for the long term future.

    Call him an elitist, I think thats ludicrous. Some say, "Well then we're discouraging kids from thinking they can ever be President", also ludicrous. If you want your kid to be President, tell them of Bill Clinton or Barack Obama's stories growing up in poor rural areas and becomming mega successes. These two prove that anyone in America can become anything if they work hard enough for it.

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    Yes, Andrew, she is incredible. As in not credible about more and more that is reviewed about her. The latest revelation is that she took 300 days of per diem from tax payers. Per diem, payment for meals, is fine and customary for politicians away from home at tax payer expense. But, Palin WAS HOME those 300 days she took tax payer's money for food.

    And she wants to go after waste, fraud, and abuse in federal government? Sounds from her record she believes receiving from taxpayers is a far greater virtue than giving.

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    Andrew if she is so incredible why is she unable to talk to news reporters? Wouldn't you think a qualified candidate would be able to address questions from the press about issues important to the American people?
    She just returned to Alaska on a campaign airplane filled with reporters yet wasn't allowed to come to the back of the plane and talk with reporters. Doesn't that give you cause for concern?

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    • David wrote: The latest revelation is that she took 300 days of per diem from tax payers. Per diem, payment for meals, is fine and customary for politicians away from home at tax payer expense. But, Palin WAS HOME those 300 days she took tax payer's money for food.
    Another typical example of rampant greed in American government these days. Some people can't resist the temptation to abuse their power, and Palin is no different. Even if no laws were broken, it reveals blatant greed.
    • David wrote: And she wants to go after waste, fraud, and abuse in federal government? Sounds from her record she believes receiving from taxpayers is a far greater virtue than sgiving.
    Yes. And that reveal hypocrisy.

    So, how is this politician any different?
    Who can name 20, 50, 100, 200, or even 268 (half of 535) in Congress that are responsible and accountable?
    Unless someone can name at least 268 (half of 535) in Congress, we're screwed.
    Until enough voters figure this out and stop fawning over and putting crooks on a pedestal, we're screwed.
    Until enough voters finally see the logic that selfishness leads to pain and misery, we're screwed.
    When will voters match their 9% approval ratings for Congress with 9% re-election rates?
    When will enough voters finally understand that government won't become more responsible and accountable until enough voters become responsible and accountable too?
    Obviously, not enough voters are feeling enough pain and misery, but don't worry - there's a LOT of pain and misery already in the pipeline.
    Perhaps enough voters will be less apathetic, complacent, and blindly partisan when enough of the voters are deep in debt , jobless , homeless , and hungry ? Perhaps the voters aren't feeling enough pain yet from illegal immigration and these other abuses?

    • j2t2 wrote: Andrew, if she is so incredible why is she unable to talk to news reporters? Wouldn't you think a qualified candidate would be able to address questions from the press about issues important to the American people? She just returned to Alaska on a campaign airplane filled with reporters yet wasn't allowed to come to the back of the plane and talk with reporters. Doesn't that give you cause for concern?
    They don't trust her. Seems to me, if she wants to hold one of the highest offices in the land, she should be competent enough to talk with reporters, eh?

    Speaking of hypocrisy, Palin keeps saying she said no to the "bridge to nowhere", but that is a blatant lie (see first bullet at FactCheck.org). She was for it before she was against it.
    Speaking of pork-barrel, Palin and Alaska receive the most pork-barrel of most (if not all) states, and Palin hired a consultant to help lobby for pork-barrel.

    The politicians' hypocrisy these days know no bounds.
    Why do so many voters rationalize and over-look all of this greed and hypocrisy?
    But that's the voters fault, because it is the voters who fawn over and repeatedly reward those politicians with perpetual re-election.

    At any rate, the voters have the government that the voters elect (and re-elect, and re-elect, and re-elect , . . . , at least until that finally becomes too painful.

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    j2t2 replied to d.a.n at: :
    11:53 PM, 09 11 2008 | Permalink

    d.a.n
    The thing I find hard to understand is that the per diem she accepted is legal because the capital is in Juneau. She just signed into law a reform package yet for some reason this abuse of taxpayer money didnt make it into the law. Yet she is a reformer and will put DC in check. Seems she needs to start with herself.

    Seems she also like to give legislative pay raises for the part work they do in Alaska. Looks like she will fit in just fine in DC.
    http://juneauempire.com/stories/050808/sta_277022560.shtml

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    j2t2, It appears legal by Alaska's laws, but the per-diem and other activities don't appear to be ethical, even if they were legal. Power corrupts. Especially where there is insufficient transparency and accountability. The bar is set so, so, so very low these days, some voters seem content when they get a politician that is less corrupt than the previous office holder, even if they are still dishonest.

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    d.a.n I couldn't agree more. Seems former Govenor Knowles had the right approach paying his families way when they travelled and moving to Juneau when elected.

    Its easy to give lip service to reform but it is harder to actually reform.

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    Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who is currently a Vice Presidential Candidate, has been getting more negative responses from the mainstream media than she has in praises. For example, last weekend she made her late-night entertainment debut on NBC’s well-liked pop culture mainstay, Saturday Night Live. Instead of praising her for being the good sport she was, she was criticized by the press for her appearance. For several weeks now, jabs left and right have been taken at Palin, attempting to knock her out on everything. They question her performance as Governor of Alaska and her possible position as the Vice President of the United States. They had even extensively utilized the story of her seventeen-year old daughter who got pregnant out of wedlock to spread a horrendous tale to further condemn the VP candidate. Some in the media, including moderate experts, have stooped so low as to insinuate that our country will fall if something should happen to Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain, forcing Palin to take over the office of Presidency. These attacks are low-blows packed with half-truth or outright lies. Conversely, a large number of people admire Palin for her hard work and efforts that brought better things to her home state of Alaska. Many come to her defense, pointing to her unwavering support for the disabled, her work in the interest of children and people with special needs. People have put their faith in Sarah Palin, considering her support for personal responsibility and financial freedom. Much of this includes her fight against the destruction of cash advances, which is a legitimate and invaluable resource that many responsible, hard-working citizens have come to rely on in times of unexpected financial situations.
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    This was posted in another blog and I thought it was important for everyone to read and know what is going on. We cannot just take a leap of faith in this years election. I was undecided for some time on what to do with my vote, I have been doing my own analization of these 2 candidates, and ignoring the pundits. The person who posted the following, this is something that would not in the least bit surprise me... this is a good example of how much of a game politics is and how very worried we all should be about it!
    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    McCain voters, ignore the polls!
    Ok, I want to clear my conscious a little. Hopefully you could make a blog post to help some fellow clinton supporters out.

    I work for a campaign and can’t wait for this week to be over.

    I was doing it for a job. I was not a fan of any candidate but over time grew to love HRC.

    The internal campaign idea is to twist, distort, humiliate and finally dispirit you.

    We pay people and organize people to go to all the online sites and “play the part of a clinton or mccain supporter who just switched our support for obama”

    We do this to stifle your motivation and to destroy your confidence.

    We did this the whole primary and it worked.

    Sprinkle in mass vote confusion and it becomes bewildering. Most people lose patience and just give up on their support of a candidate and decide to just block out tv, news, websites, etc.

    This surprisingly has had a huge suppressing movement and vote turnout issues.

    Next, we infiltrate all the blogs and all the youtube videos and overwhelm the voting, the comments, etc. All to continue this appearance of overwhelming world support.

    People makes posts to the effect that the world has “gone mad”

    Thats the intention. To make you feel stressed and crazy and feel like the world is ending.

    We have also had quite a hand in skewing many many polls, some we couldn’t control as much as we would have liked. But many we have spoiled over. Just enough to make real clear politics look scarey to a mccain supporter. Its worked, alough the goal was to appear 13-15 points ahead.

    see, the results have been working. People tend to support a winner, go with the flow, become “sheeple”

    The polls are roughly 3-5 points in favor of Barack. Thats due to our inflation of the polls and pulling in the sheeple.

    Our donors, are the same people who finance the MSM. Their interests are tied, Barack then tends to come across as teflon. Nothing sticks. And trust, there were meetings with Fox news. The goal was to blunt them as much as possible. Watch Bill Oreilly he has become much more diplomatic and “fair and balanced” and soft. Its because he wants to retain the #1 spot on cable news and to do that he has to have access to the Obama campaign and we worked hard at stringing him a long and keeping him soft for an interview swap. It worked and now he is anticipating more access. So he is playing it still soft.

    This is why nothing sticks.

    The operation is massive, the goal is to paint a picture that is that of a winner, regardless of the results.

    There is no true inauguration draft or true grant park construction going on. There will be a party, but we are boasting beyond the truth to make it seem like the election is wrapped up.

    Our goal is to continue to make you lose your moral. We worked hard at persuasion and paying off and timing and playing the right political numbers to get key republican endorsements to make it seem even more like it was over and the world was coming to an end for you all.

    There is a huge staff of people working around the clock, watching every site, blogs, etc. We flood these sites. We have had a goal to overwhelm.

    The truth is here. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

    I am saying this because I know HRC was better for the country, and now realize this. I was too late by the time I connected to her. To me Barack was just a cool young dude that seemed like a star. I didn’t know him or his policies, but now I understand more than I care to and I realize his interests are more for him, and the DNC and all working like puppets with dean. I always thought a president wanted the better good for the country. The end result I see is everyone dependent on the government, this means more and more people voting for the DNC. This means the future is forever altered. I don’t see this as america, so I am now supporting John Mccain.

    Sarah Palin is a huge threat, and our campaign has feared her like you can’t imagine. If it seems unfair how she has been treated, well its because she has had a team working round the clock to make her look like a fool.

    this is a big conspiracy and I am so shocked that its not realized.

    We released a little blurb the other day that the Obama campaign was already working on reelection and now putting our efforts towards 2012. This was to make it seem like it was above us to continue caring about 2008. Trust me, its a lie. David is very smart, but its a sticky ugly not very truthful kind of intelligence.

    Its not over yet, but I think the machine is working. And its a hill to climb.

    I will be quitting my post on nov 5th and my vote will be for John Mccain. Fortunately, my position has been a marketing position and I don’t feel I had any part of anything I would feel guilty for. But I look forward to getting out of this as the negativity and environment upsets me.

    I wish you all well, and goodluck.

    PS my name is not really sarah. but I am a female and I understand your plight