It's Palin ...

[Cerise]

Buh bye, B.O.

A spectre is haunting the liberal elites of New York and Washington--the spectre of a young, attractive, unapologetic conservatism, rising out of the American countryside, free of the taint (fair or unfair) of the Bush administration and the recent Republican Congress, able to invigorate a McCain administration and to govern beyond it.

That spectre has a name--Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of Alaska chosen by John McCain on Friday to be his running mate. There she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of barriers; a reformer who's a Republican; a challenger of a corrupt good-old-boy establishment who's a conservative; a successful woman whose life is unapologetically grounded in religious belief; a lady who's a leader.

So what we will see in the next days and weeks--what we have already seen in the hours after her nomination--is an effort by all the powers of the old liberalism, both in the Democratic party and the mainstream media, to exorcise this spectre. They will ridicule her and patronize her. They will distort her words and caricature her biography. They will appeal, sometimes explicitly, to anti-small town and anti-religious prejudice. All of this will be in the cause of trying to prevent the American people from arriving at their own judgment of Sarah Palin. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/500wrhjq.asp

 

[spike]

See ya later McCain.

(CNN) -- John McCain needs what Kinky Friedman calls "a checkup from the neck up."

In choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, he is not thinking "outside the box," as some have said. More like out of his mind.

Palin a first-term governor of a state with more reindeer than people, will have to put on a few pounds just to be a lightweight. Her personal story is impressive: former fisherman, mother of five. But that hardly qualifies her to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

For a man who is 72 years old and has had four bouts with cancer to have chosen someone so completely unqualified to become president is shockingly irresponsible. Suddenly, McCain's age and health become central issues in the campaign, as does his judgment.

In choosing this featherweight, McCain passed over Tom Ridge, a decorated combat hero, a Cabinet secretary and the former two-term governor of the large, complex state of Pennsylvania. iReport.com: 'McCain pick might be a gimmick'

He passed over Mitt Romney, who ran a big state, Massachusetts; a big company, Bain Capital; and a big event, the Olympics.

He passed over Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Texas senator who is knowledgeable about the military, good on television and -- obviously -- a woman.

He passed over Joe Lieberman, his best friend in the Senate and fellow Iraq Kool-Aid drinker.

He passed over former congressman, trade negotiator and budget director Rob Portman.

And he also passed over Mike Huckabee, the governor of Arkansas.

For months, the McCainiacs have said they will run on his judgment and experience. In his first presidential decision, John McCain has shown that he is willing to endanger his country, potentially leaving it in the hands of someone who simply has no business being a heartbeat away from the most powerful, complicated, difficult job in human history.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/29/begala.palin/index.html

 

[Cerise]

From McCain's daughter:

http://mccainblogette.com/index.shtml

 

[spike]

From Cindy McCain's half sister.

Cindy McCain's Half-Sister: I'm Voting For Obama

I'm not voting for McCain," Kathleen Hensley Portalski tells Us. "I have a different political standpoint.

"I'm voting for Obama," the Phoenix resident says. "I think his proposals to improve the country are more positive and I'm not a big war believer."

...

Portalski's son Nathan, an aerospace machinist, is also backing Obama.

"I wouldn't vote for John McCain if he was a Democrat," he tells Us. "I would not vote at all before I'd vote for him.

"I question whether Cindy is someone I'd want to see in the White House as first lady," he adds.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/28/cindy-mccains-half-sister_n_122134.html

 

[tonksy]

I had no idea Trig was so young.

 

[Cerise]

So she has a different political standpoint.

Probably something to do with the fact that their father's will made Cindy the beneficiary of his fortune, while her half sis got only $10 g.

 

[tonksy]

Smacks of family drama to me.

 

[Cerise]

I had no idea Trig was so young.

He is just a little thing.

 

[2minkey]

yeah i can't wait 'til mccain keels over and we end up with a self-proclaimed hockey mom with her finger on the button. jesus. maybe in the next election we can nominate a high school janitor.

 

[tonksy]

Are you saying that you believe hockey moms have the equivalent intelligence of janitors? That's a bit of a harsh generalization, don't you think?

 

[spike]

Are janitors stupid or something?

 

[spike]

Presidential scholars say she appears to be the least experienced, least credentialed person to join a major-party ticket in the modern era.

So unconventional was McCain’s choice that it left students of the presidency literally “stunned,” in the words of Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor and scholar of the vice presidency. “Being governor of a small state for less than two years is not consistent with the normal criteria for determining who’s of presidential caliber,” said Goldstein.

“I think she is the most inexperienced person on a major party ticket in modern history,” said presidential historian Matthew Dallek.

That includes Spiro T. Agnew, Richard Nixon’s first vice president, who was governor of a medium-sized state, Maryland, for two years, and before that, executive of suburban Baltimore County, the expansive jurisdiction that borders and exceeds in population the city of Baltimore.

It also includes George H.W. Bush’s vice president, Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle, who had served in the House and Senate for 12 years before taking office. And it also includes New York Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, who served three terms in the House before Walter Mondale chose her in 1984 as the first woman candidate on a major party ticket.

“It would be one thing if she had only been governor for a year and a half, but prior to that she had not had major experience in public life,” said Dallek of Palin. “The fact that he would have to go to somebody who is clearly unqualified to be president makes Obama look like an elder statesman.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/13001.html

 

[tonksy]

Are janitors stupid or something?

You're right. That is another generalization. ...or should I say stereotype?

 

[2minkey]

um, no, more along the lines of...

how could you expect someone like that to be all that equipped to make huge, important decisions? like spike mentions, um, credentials.

that's why i liked romney initially because he seemed like he'd been a successful business person. that's, um, "cred." later of course i realized he was as big a prick as al gore.

i don't want a hockey mom. i don't want a janitor. i want an experienced leader. perhaps a former CEO. perhaps a military person.

the smartest person by IQ that i know is manages a small cafe. guess what? i don't want him for president either. though, now that i think about it, he's probably do a better job than the current twit.

but hey if youz all want groundskeeper willie for president, have at it. at this point i'm going to vote for my cat as a write-in candidate. he's old enough in cat years, and is a natural born feline citizen.

 

[2minkey]

oh yeah, and fuck hockey moms.

and fuck soccer moms.

and tori spelling.

 

[Cerise]

yeah i can't wait 'til mccain keels over and we end up with a self-proclaimed hockey mom with her finger on the button. jesus.

After all, just look at how she feels about caribou and bears! And giant crabs! She likes them dead! All dead! She probably can't wait to play with the big guns!

 

[Gonz]

how could you expect someone like that to be all that equipped to make huge, important decisions? like spike mentions, um, credentials.

The last EXECUTIVE decision, by the 4 main candidates was made by whom?

The ONLY executive level decision, by the 4 main candidates was made by whom?

She is a leader. The other three are small bits in a larger play,

 

[Cerise]

um, no, more along the lines of...

how could you expect someone like that to be all that equipped to make huge, important decisions?

Like what---a woman?


You know, there's a pretty good chance that Congress will have the final say over any buttons getting pushed, the same way they authorized the use of military force in Iraq.

 

[2minkey]

yeah cerise i'm afraid of powerful women. that's why i date small, mousy women who make far less money than i do.

 

[JJR512]

The only thing I don't understand...well, the biggest mystery of them all, at least--is why people keep referring to Palin as "attractive".