Yes, a direct statement, but not an attack – a statement of fact.
I’ve been volleying with one of my readers, Edgar, that made the comment, “Why don’t you ever say that Obama is stupid – you only attack Palin and call her stupid.”
OK, take my politics out of it for a moment and here’s the deal. Obama is a Harvard Law graduate in the top of his class and the first African American to ever be president of the Harvard Law Review. He’s run a supernaturally disciplined and focused campaign against The Anointed One (Hillary) and defeated her. Even in a country with a huge amount of sub-dermal racism, he is pulling ahead nicely in the polls – even after issues with his Pastor and the whisper campaign that he’s not actually a Christian but is a Muslim. The trial by fire that is presidential election politics have vetted him and he has been equal to the challenge.
Taking all her other gaffes, misstatements and airbag answers out of the equation for a moment, I simply want to address a small part of the Katie Couric interview:
PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press for the media, I mean…
COURIC: Like what ones specifically? I’m curious that you…
PALIN: Um, all of ‘em, any of ‘em that um have been in front of me over all these years, um…
COURIC: Can you name any of them?
PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news too. Alaska isn’t a foreign country where it’s kind of suggested it seems like, wow how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, DC may be thinking and doing, when you live up there in Alaska. Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.
So now having stripped away any possibility of a “Gotcha” press question, or obscure international reference or even national issues, we simply want to know what she reads. She cannot even name a single one – she reads “all of ‘em.” Anyone with half a brain would even have LIED and said “Time” or “Newsweek” or something else they had seen at the grocery store on the way out… she can’t even dance to THAT silly of a question!
How long will we suffer this utter farce to continue? This is the our nation and our national future we’re talking about here! Some on the right will talk about Obama needing on-the-job training… well at least he’ll be starting with post graduate work. With Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency, we’re talking about remedial reading!
So, Edgar, if you’re reading: she’s a moron and has earned the title.
Perk.
I am afraid you miss the point about the newspapers. She cannot name any of the papers she reads because she does not want to endorse one over the other. See, she is about being fair and just, and giving equal time to all. If she named a paper, she would be presenting herself as playing favorites.
Moreover, do you not believe that she has read ALL of them? You haven’t? Humf, I think it is a travesty that you have not, and frankly Palin’s reading habits are something to be commended. It takes great drive and motivation to read the same exact thing 500 times in every single newspaper and magazine, just so you can discern the complete picture from the nuggets of truth that each article may have, so she can make a fair and decisive decision regarding the challenges she faces.
Palin does not lie of course. So to expect her to just pull a name out of her ass, goes against everything she believes in, and frankly, it’s appalling that you even suggest it.
WTF just happened? I think I channeled the McCain Campaign… creepy.
Who are you, and what have you done with the BrainDonkey?
@Perk sits comfortably in his den, next to his cardboard figure of karl marx and writes, “So, Edgar, if you’re reading: she’s a moron and has earned the title.”
She gave a crappy interview with kouric. She was not prepared and her handlers should be fired. Well, maybe that’s a little extreme. Hey, I’m not here to defend everything palin does.
She’s not my hero. Of course, if it was “Yoko” running for VP I’m sure you’d be estatic!
However, I kind of agree with BD on this one. At least she didn’t lie.
But Perk, I was quite delighted to see her make minced meat of Joe Biden tonight. I thought Biden (who I like despite the fact that he’s too liberal for me) was going to dance on her face. Well, she did a great job of making him look uncomfortable and even made him laugh (think Reagan and Mondale) a couple of times.
She got more and more confident as time went on and stood there for 90 minutes with a veteran senator and more than held her own.
My favorite part was when she quoted the nasty, ugly, negative political remarks that Biden had made against Obama in the Primary. Beautiful. Biden could only show a sheepish grin. How embarrassing!!
Then she quoted his previous endorsments of various Mcain policies which he held…until he was picked for VP.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Time to break out the dictionary Perk and argue semantics and split hairs. That’s all that’s left. She smoked him.
Obama is not a good decision maker and his senate record proves that. He voted ‘present’ in the *overwhelming* majority of the cases brought before the senate.
Now excuse me as I am off to write Sara and give her a royal ass kissing and congradulate her on her wonderful performance tonight!
Oh, I just realized your daughter reads your blog. I apologize for some of my language in other posts!
@ language – no worries, she’s an adult now
@ “minced meat” & “smoked him” – I’m afraid the polls do not agree with you, citing that Biden was a clear winner, and more undecideds became committed to Obama tonight than McCain bout about 1.5 to 1. I think you need to watch another channel my friend, because you’re not getting good info. All the polls do indicate that from a partisan position, both of them won handily, big surprise. It’s the independents that you must watch.
@ Yoko: Are you kidding me? are you KIDDING ME? The bitch broke up the Beatles man! She’s the antichrist!
@ Karl Marx: I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that… I’m an educated, capable and aggressive capitalist, Edg. And a damn fine one to boot. I just don’t believe that the way the Republicans envision my America is the best way at all. I prefer Warren Buffet to Hatchet Al, that’s all.
@ “Voted present in the *overwhelming*…” Are you aware that in 26 years of Senate “experience” McCain has only managed to get his name on one bill more than Obama in his lesser time in Senate? Do you know that his record of voting is onl *slightly* better than Obamas? ‘Course not. They won’t tell you that on Fox.
@ They didn’t Poll me. Screw independents and undecideds. These candidates are so far apart from one another that you have to be a friggen idiot to be undecided. I mean, how out of touch with ones self must one be to not sit on one side or the other with this particular campaign?
I have no respect for undecideds. You’ve got to be clueless about politics, morals and their arguments, philosophy and devoid of inner reflection of any kind to remain undecided in this case. For once, you must agree with me.
Mcains got a conservative philosophy and Obama has a liberal philosophy. It’s very, very simple.
Therefore, in my eyes, the fact that the undecideds felt this way or that way after the debate is moot.
@Fox
I watch cspan most of the time and any of the other three. It doesn’t matter to me. Fox has alan colmes, cnn has glen beck…whatever.
I’m a cspan guy and actually, believe it or not, my favorite is the ‘Prime Ministers Questions’ –just love watching the brits!
Well there’s a few places we certainly agree… undecideds – what the hell are they looking for? Are they really so dense that they don’t yet understand what’s at stake for either side?
And CSpan, and the British Parliment – man we’re 3 for 3.
But I do disagree about whether the undecideds matter, because they will decide this race. The partisans are all lined up, it’s all about undecideds in a few states now. So although I am in a similar place of disrespect, they unfortunately command attention.
Perhaps that’s why they’re undecided after all
It’s funny how pre-disposition can shape opinion, regardless of the actual outcome or circumstance.
I am a VERY liberal democrat, duh. However, because of some of the work I do and the house I was raised in, I am very good at playing devil’s advocate and seeing a problem or situation from all represented angles and giving a fair shake to all. That said, of course I lean towards my initial belief and thought.
Last night, I felt that Biden won, but not as handily as I expected, mostly because Palin did better than the really really low bar that has been set for her. Comparing actual question answering numbers, Biden avoided less than Palin. There was a string of about 4 questions where she got fixated on the prior question, not answering what she was asked. Biden did it once that I recognized.
His answers contained actual info, cites, and figures. Palin’s for the most part were vague, though she did have some solid statements, not enough to make up for the vagueness.
It’s funny that you say she “got joe” on a few points, which I will agree she did. I rant all the time about why is it that the American rightwingers think it’s a bad thing to change your mind? But thats a different topic.
The point is the McCain camp, and Palin towing the same line, keeps claiming that Obama voted against funding for troops for example, when McCain did the same exact thing. It’s because of different reasons, polar opposites in fact, but the same end result, yet the McCain camp feels they have the high ground? Most of the “you voted this way” claims from palin are absurd, because McCain has voted the same exact way usually.
I understand demonizing. You apparently don’t like democrats, i’m guessing because they are associated with liberal thinking and social systems. Using religion as an easy example, it’s the same reason muslims and christians will never actually get along. Your god is the 1 true god, so the other guys are wrong and vice versa, and as such they are heretics and infidels. You don’t need to listen to the other guy, because anything he says will be from that heretical point of view and is tainted with “evil”.
The same applies in politics, republicans and democrats are heretics to each other, and as such, have “evil” agendas, they never actually listen to each other, and even worse, they feel the need to publicly demonize each other. Generally speaking, the republicans are less tolerant of difference, and are usually the more aggressive in the demonizing game. Don’t bother arguing the tolerance angle since all I have to do is rifle off a string of racial and social biases the republican hold dear to drive the point home.
BD you’re a LIBERAL? WTF?!?!? roflmao:
Interesting that you felt he did not “win” as much as you had expected. I was actually in quite the other camp, because I was quite concerned about the sexist/attack perspective that could make a slam dunk on his part look like kitten bashing. I was extremely enthused that she held her own and he did nothing but be respectful in his disagreement.
In this way, I feel that he achieved the best possible victory – she came across often as shrill and gassy while he was professorial. In this way, he not only Did No Harm (primary job) but he actually increased perception of the ticket, which I felt was overly optimistic to hope for. I thought the night would be about the degree to which Palin screwed up, but since she didn’t we can evaluate what was said rather than a silly sound bite.
And to that extent, since what she said was so very often meaningless, her performance did not increase the ticket’s perception in a meaningful way that might affect the Electoral map, which is really all that matters at this point.
Two more debates and my fervent hope that there’s no more October Surprises sitting in the wings – although I won’t put it past the Repugnicans to CGI-gin up a video of Obama facing east as he is doing a little white boy in the pooter and wearing a Taqiyah. There are many days yet on this path. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and powder dry.