Now We Can Have A Real Culture War!

Thank goodness for Maureen Dowd. If she didn’t exist, and the New York Times hadn’t found her, we’d have had to invent her in order to have a proper mouthpiece for the haughtily condescending, superior, superciliously snide view our bi-coastal betters have of us benighted (and if conservative, evil) middle Americans who live in small towns.

But she does exist, and her emblematic liberal snobbery is on display in full force in her column today, which discusses Sarah Palin’s selection as worthy of a “hokey chick flick.”

First, note the now seemingly mandatory invocation of “uppity” (as just discussed here):

It’s easy to see where this movie is going. It begins, of course, with a cute, cool unknown from Alaska who has never even been on “Meet the Press” triumphing over a cute, cool unknowable from Hawaii who has been on “Meet the Press” a lot.

Americans, suspicious that the Obamas have benefited from affirmative action without being properly grateful, and skeptical that Michelle really likes “The Brady Bunch” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” reject the 47-year-old black contender as too uppity and untested.

Query 1: Is it unreasonable, or maybe even racist, to suspect “that the Obamas have benefited from affirmative action without being properly grateful”? If that is unreasonable, at least with regard to Barack, is it unreasonable to suspect, and hence resent, that many professional blacks have benefitted from affirmative action?

Enthusiastic Republicans don’t see the choice of Palin as affirmative action, despite her thin résumé and gaping absence of foreign policy knowledge…

Query 2: Could part of the enthusiasm Democrats have for Obama be based on his color, on the fact that their enthusiasm for him is an advertisement for their own moral superiority?

Query 3: If those who regard Obama as unqualified because of his lack of experience are racist because what they are “really” saying (unbeknownst to themselves) is that he is “uppity,” are those Dowding Thomasinas who regard Palin as unqualified because she is “untested” (everyone knows you can’t be tested in small towns or even as governor of a small state) really sexist?

But let’s move on to Dowd’s cultural critique.

Obama may have been president of The Harvard Law Review, but Palin graduated from the University of Idaho with a minor in poli-sci and worked briefly as a TV sports reporter….

Palinistas, as they are called, love Sarah’s spunky, relentlessly quirky “Northern Exposure” story from being a Miss Alaska runner-up, and winning Miss Congeniality, to being mayor and hockey mom in Wasilla, a rural Alaskan town of 6,715, to being governor for two years to being the first woman ever to run on a national Republican ticket. (Why do men only pick women as running mates when they need a Hail Mary pass? It’s a little insulting.)

Sarah is a zealot, but she’s a fun zealot. She has a beehive and sexy shoes, and the day she’s named she goes shopping with McCain in Ohio for a cheerleader outfit for her daughter.

As she once told Vogue, she’s learned the hard way to deal with press comments about her looks. “I wish they’d stick with the issues instead of discussing my black go-go boots,” she said. “A reporter once asked me about it during the campaign, and I assured him I was trying to be as frumpy as I could by wearing my hair on top of my head and these schoolmarm glasses.”

So, in (or from) a nutshell: the Republicans have insulted all proper upper East-and West Side women (and their sisters in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and university towns everywhere) by having the nerve to select a pretty University of Idaho graduate (not even from a good college, much less a prestigious law review editor), small town soccer mom mayor, and small state governor who also hunts when she’s not looking after her five kids and who, in addition to her bad taste in not attending an Ivy League school also sports “a beehive and sexy shoes.”

Her hair doesn’t look to me like a beehive, nor have I noticed her shoes, but what do I know. I do know she took on her own party in Alaska, routed it, and has been cleaning house ever since. She didn’t simply give lip service to “reaching across the aisle”; she all but obliterated the aisle. Which is more than can be said of a time-serving state senator whose only accomplishment after being elevated to the U.S. Senate has been to write the second volume of his autobiography.

Say What? (22)

  1. Cobra August 31, 2008 at 12:54 pm | | Reply

    John,

    Make the argument for me.

    Why is Sarah Palin the most qualified REPUBLICAN candidate for Vice President in 2008, in the midst of two wars and the state of the US Economy?

    –Cobra

  2. Knock August 31, 2008 at 1:05 pm | | Reply

    I don’t know Cobra. Maybe because she didn’t suggest that sending $200 million to Iran “with no strings attached” is a good idea.

    Please also note that Dowd is the most bitter harpy to have ever lived. She doesn’t hate Palin so much for her politics, she hates her for her happiness(and Dowd’s self-inflicted misery).

  3. vanderleun August 31, 2008 at 2:56 pm | | Reply

    Dear Cobra,

    Because she, better than any other, can help McCain win the election.

    Next question.

  4. John Anderson August 31, 2008 at 3:57 pm | | Reply

    Can’t really answer Cobra`s query. OTOH…

    “her thin résumé and gaping absence of foreign policy knowledge…”

    While perhaps not very wide, I wonder if depth of foreign-policy counts? Even before entering politics (a bit before BHO: 1992) she had to be well aware of and possibly interacting with competing fishers from Russia and Japan. Once in politics, she has doubtless had to deal directly with Canada, and possibly again Japan and Russia, on trade and other issues.

    Thin resume? I read another person, who mentioned that McCain and Biden had long resumes. Then claimed BHO had a better resume because he has been running for Prexy longer than Palin has been on the national ticket. Huh? That`s it? How about opening the folder in which the resumes are presented, to “judge a book by its cover” may work sometimes but it is not where to stop.

  5. Richard Nieporent August 31, 2008 at 4:08 pm | | Reply

    Cobra,

    Make the argument for me.

    Why is Barack Obama the most qualified DEMOCRAT candidate for President in 2008, in the midst of two wars and the state of the US Economy?

  6. Roy Lofquist August 31, 2008 at 7:26 pm | | Reply
  7. Cobra August 31, 2008 at 7:37 pm | | Reply

    Richard writes:

    >>>”Make the argument for me.

    Why is Barack Obama the most qualified DEMOCRAT candidate for President in 2008, in the midst of two wars and the state of the US Economy?”

    Because this is a representative republic that practices democracy, and over the course of 19 months, 20 debates,57 primary contests, over 35 million votes cast, and from a list of Senator Chris Dodd – Connecticut, Senator Joe Biden -Delaware, Governor Bill Richardson – New Mexico, Representative Dennis Kucinich – Ohio,

    Former Senator John Edwards – North Carolina,

    Former Senator Mike Gravel – Alaska, Senator Hillary Clinton – New York, Senator Barack Obama-was nominated by the Democratic Primary Voters.

    They were provided with nearly every aspect of the man’s policies, platform, demeanor, and especially history–as journalists and opposition researchers scoured through his background to dig up anything good or bad about Obama.

    In 2000, the Republican Primary Voters decided that Senator McCain wasn’t their choice for President, and we now have George W. Bush. Even in that case, millions of people took the measure of the two candidates, and decided that outcome as well.

    Governor Sarah Palin was HAND-PICKED by one person… John McCain.

    >>>”The tick-tock from McCain communications director Jill Hazelbaker:

    “John McCain first met Governor Sarah Palin at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington in February of 2008 and came away extraordinarily impressed. John McCain followed her career and admired her tenacity and her many accomplishments. She was scheduled for a high profile speaking role at our convention and included in the VP selection process because of his admiration for her strong reform credentials. Last Sunday, Governor Palin and John McCain had a conversation over the phone. Governor Palin was at the Alaska State Fair, and John McCain was at his home at Phoenix.”

    http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/29/1307122.aspx

    72 year old 4 time cancer victim John McCain met the person he wants to entrust America to should he fall ill to a person he’s only met ONCE for a half-hour?

    Is that putting “Country First?”, Rich?

    This PERSON…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9pnzQ96kWA&feature=related

    Rich, are you KIDDING me?

    –Cobra

  8. Richard Nieporent August 31, 2008 at 9:03 pm | | Reply

    The problem with you Cobra is that you do not know the meaning of the word qualified. I didn’t ask you how he became the nominee. I asked you if he was the most qualified. Do you think he has more foreign policy knowledge that Clinton, Richardson or Biden? Clearly he has less experience then any of those three candidates. In fact, he was the least experienced of any of the Democrats running for President. In other words he was the least qualified candidate running. The fact that the Democrat voters wanted him does not magically make him more qualified. It simply means that they disliked the rest of the candidates so much that they were willing to vote for the least qualified candidate. That doesn’t say much for the Democrat Party. It is lucky for the country that the Republicans are running someone much more qualified so that the voters can rectify the mistake made by the Democrats in nominating someone so unqualified. In case you think I am be biased you are wrong. I agree with you that Governor Palin is not the most qualified Republican for VP. So I guess the choice for the voters is if they want to vote for an unqualified Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, or an unqualified VP candidate, Sarah Palin. I think even you can figure out which is the better choice to make.

    72 year old 4 time cancer victim John McCain met the person he wants to entrust America to should he fall ill to a person he’s only met ONCE for a half-hour?

    It makes you wonder why he is running if he is on his deathbed, right Cobra? If McCain were to pass away, although the doctors don’t seem to think that is the case, then we would have someone who had a few years of training as a VP to step in. If Obama were elected we would have someone who was unqualified from day one. Think about it.

    This PERSON…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9pnzQ96kWA&feature=related

    Rich, are you KIDDING me?

    Okay, Cobra even though you were not able to answer my first question correctly, I will give you one more chance. Please tell us what the day-to-day duties of the VP are.

  9. Splendiferous August 31, 2008 at 11:49 pm | | Reply

    I thought the job of the VP is being President of the Senate,(Article I, Section 3, paragraph 4). If SanFranNan can handle Speaker, then Sarah can handle the Senate. Not too concerned. I hope she takes Biden moose hunting.

    BTW, I feel she was selected because of her ability to ignite the GOP base, which she did quite well and her appeal to a wide range of possible voters. Cobra, you’re not one of those voters. They’re not after you. They’re after voters like me and my wife. With Palin’s rural background, NRA membership, and down home image, she comes across well to many average middle of the road women and suburban and rural men voters. My wife adores this woman already. She was sitting on the fence until Friday when she was named McCain’s running mate. My wife feels Palin is quite competent to handle the VP position. From reading the internet the past few days, many women have a similar view of Palin. Go read Maxedout Mama.

    Personally she was the best pick. I overwhelmingly approve of her selection. If he would have selected Romney no one would have noticed, Huckabee would have lost more votes than gained by appealing to a narrow band of voters, Fred was nothing to write home about, Pawlenty was the best of the men but doesn’t have the dynamics Palin has, and Kay H. has been in office too long and does not have the wide appeal. Picking Lieberman would have been a disaster and the base would have deserted him.

    I thought I was going to have to poke my eyes out, puke up my socks, and ask for forgiveness to vote for McCain. Now I will happily put my mark next to her name.

  10. Cobra September 1, 2008 at 1:17 am | | Reply

    Richard writes:

    >>>”I asked you if he was the most qualified. Do you think he has more foreign policy knowledge that Clinton, Richardson or Biden? Clearly he has less experience then any of those three candidates.”

    He may have less YEARS in foreign policy experience than Clinton, Richardson or Biden, but Obama has Foreign Policy Experience.

    He sits on the Committee of Foreign Relations, and sits in sub-commitees for African Affairs, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, European Affairs, Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs and International Environmental Protection.

    http://www.senate.gov/general/committee_membership/committee_memberships_SSFR.htm

    This status gives him far more Foreign Policy Experience than the SITTING President, George W. Bush had before being sworn into office. It gives him more foreign policy experience than the vast majority of U.S. Governors, point of fact.

    Now, interestingly enough, Obama, when facing his first decision as Presidential nominee, in selecting a Vice President, did not choose a person from a battleground state (Kaine, Baye), or somebody that would seem to molify a large voting bloc in his party, (Clinton). Oh no. He picked Joe Biden, a person you yourself lists as more experienced in foreign policy, and someone who could immediately take over the duties of President should the need arise.

    Barack Obama put the country first in HIS Vice President selection.

    Richard writes:

    >>>”So I guess the choice for the voters is if they want to vote for an unqualified Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, or an unqualified VP candidate, Sarah Palin. I think even you can figure out which is the better choice to make.”

    That’s the little Karl Rove trap you think is going to work this time right?

    That’s the little rib-tickler discussed on hate radio and Fox News ad-infinitem, huh?

    Sorry, it won’t work. Even the educational and professional background of Obama lends iron to his qualification to be President.

    The Oath of Office:

    >>>””I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

    Senator Barack Obama, in case you didn’t know was a Constitutional Law Professor:

    >>>”The Law School has received many media requests about Barack Obama, especially about his status as “Senior Lecturer.”

    From 1992 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Barack Obama served as a professor in the Law School. He was a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996. He was a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004, during which time he taught three courses per year. Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track. The title of Senior Lecturer is distinct from the title of Lecturer, which signifies adjunct status. Like Obama, each of the Law School’s Senior Lecturers has high-demand careers in politics or public service, which prevent full-time teaching. Several times during his 12 years as a professor in the Law School, Obama was invited to join the faculty in a full-time tenure-track position, but he declined.”

    http://www.law.uchicago.edu/media/index.html

    Perhaps that fact is a little too jarring to those who favor the neo-conservative assault on our Constitution for the past eight years, but an individual with this qualification is crucial, IMHO.

    Richard writes:

    >>>”It makes you wonder why he is running if he is on his deathbed, right Cobra? If McCain were to pass away, although the doctors don’t seem to think that is the case, then we would have someone who had a few years of training as a VP to step in.”

    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1806794,00.html.

    Richard, he’s had skin cancer 4 times. He’s 72 years old, and if he wins, he’ll be the oldest President ever to be sworn in to his first term. Tim Johnson (stroke), Ted Kennedy (malignant brain tumor),Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (sudden death) and even Bill Clinton, (bypass surgery) should remind you that McCain’s age and health cannot be viewed as a trivial matter.

    Richard writes:

    >>>”Please tell us what the day-to-day duties of the VP are.”

    The Constitution says:

    >>>”The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

    The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.”

    –Cobra

  11. Richard Nieporent September 1, 2008 at 8:18 am | | Reply

    Why is Barack Obama the most qualified DEMOCRAT candidate for President in 2008, in the midst of two wars and the state of the US Economy?

    That was the question I asked in response to your question about Sarah Palin. And what is your response?

    He may have less YEARS in foreign policy experience than Clinton, Richardson or Biden, but Obama has Foreign Policy Experience.

    It appears that you agree that he isn’t the most qualified candidate. Let’s see what else you have to say.

    He picked Joe Biden, a person you yourself lists as more experienced in foreign policy, and someone who could immediately take over the duties of President should the need arise.

    In other words Corba you yourself realize that, Biden is more qualified than Obama.

    Next you state that “Even the educational and professional background of Obama lends iron to his qualification to be President. Senator Barack Obama, in case you didn’t know was a Constitutional Law Professor”.

    As they used to say, what does that have to do with the price of tea in China? Being a constitutional Law” Professor” would have relevance if he were being picked to be a judge, but it has zero relevance for being a President. Do you not know the difference between the executive and the judiciary? The President is elected to run the country, not interpret the Constitution. That is what the Supreme Court is for.

    Unfortunately, Cobra I also have to give you a failing grade on the next question I asked you, namely “Please tell us what the day-to-day duties of the VP are.”

    In order to do well on an exam you have to answer the question that was asked. I didn’t ask you what the Constitution states but what are the day-to-day duties of the VP. The constitution is silent on that question. Voting in the Senate to break a tie (which rarely occurs) and taking over for the President if he becomes incapacitated or dies in office are not day-to-day duties. The correct answer is whatever the President tells him (or in this case her) to do. That was exactly the point made by Sarah Palin in the Youtube video that you linked to. It wasn’t she that was being “stupid” but the people who thought they had a “gotcha” moment.

  12. Cobra September 1, 2008 at 12:11 pm | | Reply

    Richard writes:

    >>>”It appears that you agree that he isn’t the most qualified candidate.”

    No. You cast the aspersion that Obama is not qualified to be President because he lacks the years spent in foreign policy compared with Clinton, Biden and Richardson. The problem with that argument is that he has MORE foreign policy experience than Reagan (actor, Gov. of CA), FDR, or Abe Lincoln before they took office.

    The American People at large are the “hiring committee” for who assumes the position of President. (with the exception of sudden death, or Supreme Court intervention, re 2000).

    As I said before, the Vice President is picked by ONE PERSON.

    The Constitution notes the qualifications for President:

    Age and Citizenship requirements – US Constitution, Article II, Section 1

    “No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.”

    If you want to be exacting about it, in a Bill Clintonesque way, Richard…yes, Sarah Palin, by the Constitution is “qualified” to be President of the United States of America.

    So am I, and I assume you.

    Barack Obama meets those qualifications as well, but he’s been in a sense, vetted by millions of Americans through the campaign process–as has Senator John McCain, who has never held a private sector job, and doesn’t have executive experience.

    Now if your argument is that Sarah Palin should be at the TOP of the GOP ticket because she has more “executive experience” than Senator McCain, it would be the logical argument for the same reason one would claim she is more “experienced” than Obama.

    Richard writes:

    >>>”The constitution is silent on that question. Voting in the Senate to break a tie (which rarely occurs) and taking over for the President if he becomes incapacitated or dies in office are not day-to-day duties. The correct answer is whatever the President tells him (or in this case her) to do.”

    Well, that apparently hasn’t been the case with the CURRENT Vice President.

    If Sarah Palin is going to conduct secret meetings with energy executives, run political hit jobs on critics of the administration to the point of outing covert CIA operatives, shooting friends in the face, and then deflect responsibility…

    …maybe you folks will come to love her as much as you do Dick Cheney, who by the way, was never a governor, OR a Senator…which in the Karl Rove logic, makes even HE “less qualified” than Sarah Palin.

    Richard writes:

    >>>”That was exactly the point made by Sarah Palin in the Youtube video that you linked to. It wasn’t she that was being “stupid” but the people who thought they had a “gotcha” moment.”

    How many other “You Tube” moments and comments are we going to be treated to in the next 60 days?

    Like Terrell Owens says, “Get your popcorn!”

    –Cobra

  13. Richard Nieporent September 1, 2008 at 5:15 pm | | Reply

    Okay, Cobra this is getting silly. No matter how many times you repeat yourself, you cannot win this argument. The reason is simple. You made the mistake of trying to defend an indefensible position, namely that Obama is the most qualified Democrat. You must be cognizant of the fact that the Democrats did not nominate Obama because of his experience but because he offered “change”. If they wanted experience they would have nominated Clinton, Richardson, Biden or in fact anybody else other than Obama. They did not. Since you are happy with the nomination of Obama defend him what you think are his strengths. Experience is decidedly not one of them. I couldn’t believe that you would bring up Sarah Palin’s inexperience when that is also a glaring weakness of Obama. Thus you were hoisted by your own petard.

  14. ELC September 1, 2008 at 11:45 pm | | Reply

    What’s this about a “Hail Mary” pass? (Which phrase, by the way, I as a Catholic find to be offensive.) McCain and Obama were in a neck-and-neck race before they announced their running mates. The notion that McCain’s choice of Palin was an act of desperation strikes me as wishful thinking.

  15. Cobra September 2, 2008 at 12:32 am | | Reply

    Richard writes:

    >>>”No matter how many times you repeat yourself, you cannot win this argument.”

    Of course I can. First of, remember what question YOU asked:

    >>>”Why is Barack Obama the most qualified DEMOCRAT candidate for President in 2008, in the midst of two wars and the state of the US Economy?”

    Barack Obama is the most qualified DEMOCRAT candidate for President in 2008 because he ran the best campaign. Barack Obama is the most qualified DEMOCRAT candidate because he was able to communicate a message and theme that in 2008 America, in the midst of two wars (one of which extremely unpopular) and a flailing economy, resonated with enough voters, propelled him to victories in primaries and caucuses, and is now an odds on favorite to win the White House.

    Richard writes:

    >>>”You must be cognizant of the fact that the Democrats did not nominate Obama because of his experience but because he offered “change”. If they wanted experience they would have nominated Clinton, Richardson, Biden or in fact anybody else other than Obama. They did not.”

    You just don’t get it. You’re making my argument for me. Let me make it clear for you:

    >>>”Americans’ views on the economy and the general state of the country have hit an all-time low in the history of the CBS News/New York Times poll. Eighty-one percent of those polled say the country is on the wrong track, while only 14 percent believe it is heading in the right direction.”

    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/03/opinion/polls/main3992628.shtml

    Richard, it was YOU who defined “qualified” as “most experienced.” The vast majority of the American people in 2008, 81% of them, as expressed in poll after poll, want CHANGE.

    Obama’s theme:

    “Change We Can Believe In”

    He drove that message home with a grass roots ground game honed by his “experience” as a community organizer, combined with an unprecedented viral marketing/fund raising campaign using the internet.

    Obama has generated millions of small donors that can be called upon repeatedly.

    None of the other Democratic Candidates could have possibly turned down public financing. For the first time in years

    the Democratic Presidential candidate will have a monetary advantage over the Republican.

    Obama’s charisma and orating skills can fill stadiums, and inspire younger voters to get up and go to the polls, many for the first time in their lives.

    THAT’S what makes Barack Obama the “most qualified Democrat Candidate for President in 2008 in the midst of two wars and the economy.”

    If your question was “which American-born citizen over the age of 35 would do the best job as President if he/she was given the position on January 20, 2009″, that’s a different scenario entirely. I couldn’t begin to answer that question.

    Vanderleun writes:

    >>>”Dear Cobra,

    Because she, better than any other, can help McCain win the election.

    Next question.”

    Um, like I told Rich in the last post, this is You Tube/Blogosphere America 2008. IMHO, the only thing that is keeping the McCain/Palin ticket intact, is the fact that a family of hurricanes are dominating the news cycle.

    John McCain either didn’t fully vet this candidate; a

    wreckless move,he’s desperate, or he’s deliberately trying to throw this election, IMHO.

    I say this, because if you didn’t have Hurricane Gustav hitting the Gulf Coast, you’d be seeing these headlines in your morning paper:

    >>>”TOP GOP GOVERNOR: I’VE HEARD NO DISCUSSION ABOUT REMOVING MS. PALIN FROM THE TICKET …

    ‘Fringe’ Alaskan Secessionist Party: Palin Was A Member… Almost Recalled As Mayor… Directed Fundraising For Indicted Senator’s 527… Troopergate Scandal… Calls Iraq A War For Oil… Admits She Hasn’t ‘Really Focused On Iraq’… Alaska National Guard General: Palin Plays No Role In National Defense… 17 Year-Old Daughter Pregnant… ”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

    Come on, folks. This is all just since FRIDAY.

    What’s going to happen when literally hundreds of journalists and opposition researchers (who are right now descending on Alaska like locusts) start combing through every aspect of Sarah Palin’s life?

    My prediction is that some “family issue/emergency” is going to prompt Palin to either step down, or not accept the nomination.

    Even as a liberal Democrat, I’m embarrassed by this. This is bad for America’s image. Did the McCain campaign even do a basic Google Search on Palin?

    But like I told Richard–

    “Get your popcorn!”

    –Cobra

  16. Richard Nieporent September 2, 2008 at 8:34 am | | Reply

    Cobra, as the saying goes when you hit bottom it is time to stop digging. Dictionary definition of (most) qualified: (best) fitted (as by training or experience) for a given purpose. Cobra definition of most qualified: he ran the best campaign. You are kidding yourself if you think that you are convincing anyone with your so-called logic. By that logic Sarah Palin is the most qualified Republican for VP because McCain selected her.

    By the way Cobra, I will start worrying about Palin when I find out she is friends with a terrorist (Bill Ayers), attends a church for 20 years with a pastor that is anti-American and anti-Semitic and gets special favors from a crook (Rezko).

  17. mj September 2, 2008 at 9:32 am | | Reply

    “Americans … reject the 47-year-old black contender as too uppity and untested.”

    Yet another claim that anyone against Obama is racist. I wonder why they don’t realize that making excuses before the election is more than a little defeatist.

  18. Cobra September 2, 2008 at 12:25 pm | | Reply

    Richard writes:

    >>>”By the way Cobra, I will start worrying about Palin when I find out she is friends with a terrorist (Bill Ayers), attends a church for 20 years with a pastor that is anti-American and anti-Semitic and gets special favors from a crook (Rezko).”

    You still don’t get it, do you? America has heard all about these folks associated with Obama. He was nominated ANYWAY. America has NEVER heard about these revelations about Palin, because they didn’t get a chance to. McCain didn’t start vetting her until last THURSDAY.

    Palin, according to ABC News reports, was once a member of the Alaskan Independence Party:

    >>>”Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States.

    And while McCain’s motto — as seen in a new TV ad — is “Country First,” the AIP’s motto is the exact opposite — “Alaska First — Alaska Always.”

    After refraining from commenting on the charge for a day, the McCain campaign on Tuesday asserted that Palin was never a member of the AIP.

    But Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, tells ABC News that Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. Clark was AIP secretary at the time.

    “We are a state’s rights party,” says Clark, a self-employed goldminer. The AIP has “a plank that challenges the legality of the Alaskan statehood vote as illegal and in violation of United Nations charter and international law.”

    http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/members-of-frin.html

    Gov. Palin addresses the 2008 AIP Convention:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvPNXYrIyI&feature=related

    A Speaker at AIP Convention outs Gov. Palin as a former member starting at the 6:00 mark:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHFY1otOWjQ&feature=related

    Umm….

    Secession, Richard?

    Secession!?!

    You’ve gotta be KIDDING me. Maybe Roger Clegg would

    wax nostalgic over a “secession candidate”, but this is ridiculous.

    Do you realize that for every minute Palin is on this ticket, the McCain campaign will be quashing rumors, denying accusations and explaining controversies? How does this fit the definition of “most qualified” and “best fitted”?

    You can spin Sarah Palin all you like, Richard. There are bombshells about her blowing up by the hour.

    –Cobra

  19. Richard Nieporent September 2, 2008 at 2:50 pm | | Reply

    You still don’t get it, do you? America has heard all about these folks associated with Obama. He was nominated ANYWAY. America has NEVER heard about these revelations about Palin, because they didn’t get a chance to. McCain didn’t start vetting her until last THURSDAY.

    Cobra, I am certain that the Left wing of the Democrat Party had no problems supporting a candidate who has these types of disreputable people as his friends. In fact, I am sure that they considered that to be a benefit. However, where did you get the idea that the Left wing of the Democrat party is the same as America? The question is whether the majority of the voters will be as supportive of Obama’s questionable friends as the Move-on types. We won’t know that until the general election now, will we?

    You’ve gotta be KIDDING me. Maybe Roger Clegg would wax nostalgic over a “secession candidate”, but this is ridiculous.

    This is a pretty funny comment Cobra. I would like to give you credit for a sense of humor, if I didn’t know better. You do understand the difference between the AIP and the Confederacy, don’t you? Do you think that they are planning to bring back slavery?

    Well I guess I misjudged you, Cobra. All this time I thought you were against what this country stood for. So I take it that you were not serious with all your charges that the US is a racist society. Given your comments I would have thought you would be supportive of any group that wanted to secede from the US. Cobra, the American Patriot, who knew?

  20. Cobra September 2, 2008 at 6:56 pm | | Reply

    Richard writes:

    >>>”However, where did you get the idea that the Left wing of the Democrat party is the same as America?”

    As much as it probably pains you to hear, Richard…I am America. As are you, John Rosenberg, Caroline Kennedy, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ice T, Barbara Bush and the homeless guy holding a cup at the edge of town.

    America is the sum of its citizens, great and small, IMHO.

    Richard writes:

    >>>”You do understand the difference between the AIP and the Confederacy, don’t you? Do you think that they are planning to bring back slavery?”

    Since I’m not a big fan of either secessionist group, you might want to ask Roger Clegg that question.

    Speaking of “Culture Wars”, wait till you get a load of Sarah Palin’s Pastor Ed Kalnins!

    http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/palins_past_pastor_bushfoes_he.html

    –Cobra

  21. Richard Nieporent September 2, 2008 at 8:39 pm | | Reply

    As much as it probably pains you to hear, Richard…I am America. As are you, John Rosenberg, Caroline Kennedy, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ice T, Barbara Bush and the homeless guy holding a cup at the edge of town.

    America is the sum of its citizens, great and small, IMHO.

    Cobra, I was going to give you a lesson on set theory, so that you would understand the difference between the complete set (America) and one of its subsets (Left wing on the Democrat Party). However I am so moved by your patriotic comments that it actually brings tears to my eyes. Yes, we are all part of America. So rather than argue with you let us stand together and enjoy this moment and listen to a song”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r26_CSzk3Xw”>song that tells exactly how we feel about our country.

  22. Richard Nieporent September 2, 2008 at 8:44 pm | | Reply

Say What?