Why We Love Palin.
Amazingly enough, this is a post that has to do both with giftedness and politics.
I’ve speculated for awhile about just what it is about Sarah Palin that people seem to love, and love so vociferously. I think I’ve figured out just what it is.
It’s not experience, because if Obama’s experience is slim, hers is positively anorexic. You’d be hard-pressed to convince anyone but the real nutjobs that she’s ready for Hillary’s (in)famous 3AM phone call, and I noticed that she didn’t really touch on such could-be-the-Prez issues during the RNC such as her detailed plan for the economy.
Naah. So why do we love Sarah Palin?
Because Americans don’t actually want the most qualified, intelligent person for the job of President. Eight years of Bush should be enough to convince us that this is so. See, if we did, we’d hold it to be of supreme importance that our future president should be extremely knowledgeable about one or more areas of crucial competence to a world power such as foreign policy, economics, diplomacy, management of a large-scale and complex organization, or hell, even basic geography.
Nope, Americans don’t want those skills in a President. They just don’t want to feel stupid, which suggests even to the most mind-blind among us, that Americans operate under an enormous inferiority complex – an inferiority complex that is so vast that it’s the elephant (or the donkey) in the room, an inferiority complex caused by the fact that we have good, solid reasons to believe that no, we are not the best nation in the world any more.
We used to be. But we’re not. Not any more. Or if we are the best nation still, we’re well on our way to blowing it.
Oh, sure, you can argue till you’re blue in the face that we have the best nukes. Absolutely. We have weapons of mass destruction up the yin-yang and we could blow the crap out of everyone else. Sure.
However, I’m not sure — at least for me — that might makes right, or even that the nation with the best nukes is the bestest of all possible worlds for the people who live there. If so, if we’re to judge a nation’s quality this way, then we’re down a dark path indeedy.
Judged by measures of quality of life such as infant mortality rates, the happiness of one’s citizenry, the excellence of our children’s education, the length of the people’s lifespans, a modest gap between the wealthiest and the most impoverished, or even our freedoms of speech and press for which we’ve energetically congratulated ourselves for the years since Joe McCarthy died, we’re not doing so well at all.
Why?
Let’s take education as a starter. See, as many readers of this blog know very well, studying in school is really hard. It’s not nearly as much fun as…well, fun. Studying takes hours of your time and ultimately demands of the individual student that she or he confront not the areas in which she or he is strongest, but the areas in which s/he is not, and this kind of confrontation with our weakest and dumbest areas is a confrontation from which we all want to shrink. The difference is that the devoted students ultimately face their fear.
It’s hard to achieve on your individual merits, which is why we as Americans love those stories about people who achieve for no reason whatsoever or by getting unearned, undeserved wealth: by winning the lottery, by eating cockroaches, by being randomly chosen from the audience, by selling drugs or yourself.
We love celebrity, but we really love it when it comes unaccompanied by any actual talent, because when that happens, well, then anyone could be a celebrity. You, me, Kim Kardashian, Lindsey Lohan, the entire lineups of any given American Idol, America’s Next Top Model, or So You Think You Can Dance?
See, not everyone can get into Harvard or Yale. We despise Obama for the former, but have you ever thought how much we love Bush for the latter? At the very least, we conveniently ignore the fact that he is a son of privilege whose influential, wealthy father got him into Andover, one of the toniest prep schools EV-AH, and from there into Yale. We love Bush because, in our hearts, we know he is a mediocrity who never could have gotten further than the student cafeteria without his father’s legacy and influence, and once there, never got much better than “gentleman’s Cs,” those inflated grades given to the sons of fathers you don’t want to piss off. Like ones who head up the CIA.
The unforgivable thing about Obama is that he just might be more intelligent, diplomatic, and genuinely educated in the old-school Thomas Jefferson sense than is the average Joe Sixpack. Unlike McCain, he probably knows what countries border Iraq and unlike Palin, he believes in teaching science in school, not science fiction. The worst thing, though, is the fact that he’s an intelligent, educated (ssshhhh!!) black man — an idea that is abhorrently offensive to those people whose only claim to supposed “superiority” in the entire world is their fair, white skin.
(Hence the astoundingly retro comment from Georgia congressman Lynn Westmoreland the other day that Obama and his wife were members of an “elitist-class … that thinks that they’re uppity.” When asked if he really meant that, Westmoreland said, “Yeah, uppity.”)
We love Sarah Palin for the same reasons — not because she’s experienced, because it’s absurd to suggest that someone whose entire state population is less than that of Tucson, Arizona has gotten much experience at all for the fewer than twenty months she’s been on the job — but because she’s “just like us.”
She’s a “hockey mom.” She wears her baby in a sling. She breastfeeds. She’s a pitbull with lipstick — how cute is that? She looks and sounds like Tina Fey auditioning for a part in Fargo: The Return of Wood Chipper Guy. She’s so normal. Rather than elitist, intelligent Obama, she went to the absolutely-unremarkable University of Iowa or Idaho or Indiana and majored in journalism, one of the least-demanding subjects besides education and P.E.
Oh, sorry. Was that elitist of me?
In the eyes of many, Sara Palin’s very lack of qualities ironically qualifies her to be President, because many of us, as Americans realize in our hearts that we’re second-best and this offends us to the core. To see a second-bester rise to the position of world power pleases us no end, because of course, we think we can do that too. Hell, apparently anyone with more responsibility than is given to a P.T.A. member can apparently consider themselves ready to take the helm of the free world.
Color me elitist.
Every single parent of a gifted child knows all about the charge of “elitism.” Every single parent of a gifted child knows that it’s absolutely wonderful-peachykeen-fine if your child is beautiful or athletic, because plastic surgery and drugs can do a hell of a lot towards closing that gap, and if those don’t work, then just wait: time tends to work its own ravages on beauty and strength. Many women who used to wish they “looked just like Elizabeth Taylor” now can say in all honesty that their wish has come true.
It’s not so fine when someone else’s child is just. plain. scarysmart. Not just hothoused. Anyone with flashcards, time, and the determination of a lipsticked pitbull can hothouse.
Smart can’t be bought. Smart can’t be conferred with a few strokes of a surgeon’s knife or a shot of steroids. Smart is what can’t be forgiven.
See, I like intelligence in my world leader. I like experience. Given a choice between the two, I’ll take intelligence, because intelligence learns from experience, but experience doesn’t always confer intelligence — nor even wisdom. If it did, we should elect Dick Cheney.
Ultimately, I DON’T want someone who’s “just like me.” I want someone smarter than me (…um…than I…) to be heading up the most powerful office in the free world. I want someone with diplomatic experience, or at least diplomacy. I want someone who knows that Fannie Mae isn’t a kind of candy, and I want someone who did a little better than graduating 894th out of 899th in his class, no matter how smart that makes me feel. I want someone who did BETTER than I did because they have a far more important job than I do.
Because she is a woman and she is not black!
You said you love Sara Paulin because she is not black.
Poor you, ignorant you, are late on the era. What will you do if God happens to be Black, in case He gives you a chance to go to heaven ? He knows why He has created the human kind multicolor. Unfortunately, some people have a so narow brain that they can help thinking other way. Des ignorants qui n’imaginent pas qu’ils le sont. C’est un drame pour eux. A bon entendeur salut.
Korkie, I only hope you’re being sarcastic.
Found this through Dana’s homeschooling BlogNetNews.It may be uppity of me but I thought this was BRILLIANT! My favorite post of the week, in fact.
Here’s one in exchange for your amusement, not that I would say it’s equally brilliant — just that I think you might like it.
“Celebrity Sarah Palin to Play Scarlett O’Hara In Remake?”
Oh, I’m so glad you’ve said all this and now I don’t have to. (Except to my husband and to my girlfriend on the phone and to the TV set and to the radio . . . )
Now I can just say that I think you are totally Right On.
Adso, you rock. I too have been musing on what this pick says about the value of education (McCain–4th from the bottom of his class, Palin–5 schools/6 years to get a journalism degree), both her kids–plus the fiance–dropouts), about how we as a society view intelligence. And clearly what is says is grim. Evidently a significant portion of the electorate doesn’t give a flying f@$*. (Sorry for the crudity, but this whole situation has had me beside myself for the past week.) If McCain/Palin wins, I will weep for our country.
JJ, I loved the Scarlett comparison! “Global warming, fiddle-dee-dee!” indeed.
Thanks so much, Shaun! I’m glad to have someone to kvetch about Palin to besides my long-suffering spouse.
SwitchedOnMom, I just can. not. contemplate four more years of Bush. Please, God, no.
[...] Why We Love Palin. – [...]
O’DonnellWeb - Polluting the homeschool blogosphere since 2001 » Blog Archive » Elsewhere on the Internet (September 7th 22:33) said this on September 7, 2008 at 3:09 pm |
This is not my favorite post of the week.
It’s my favorite blog post EVER. Really!
With one post, you stopped my head from spinning over all this nonsensical Palin Mania. I still don’t like it, but at least I think I understand it. In other words, you’ve made me see the light.
If McCain/Palin wins in November, I will simply further my disconnect from national politics. And to think it couldn’t get worse after two terms of Bush/Cheney.
My wife thinks we should find some other country to live in, one where this kind of stupidity isn’t in such abundance.
Anyway, I’m glad to have found your blog, and especially this post.
A very good examination. I don’t really get a feel for where Americans are leaning, as I live up in Canada, but I cannot believe that the American people are as stupid as the Republicans seem to think they are.
Interesting take on the current political environment. My opinion is that the political environment will change tomorrow because the American public is fickle and we like to complain. There are things to like about both of the candidates, unfortunately, they are human. Ideals don’t run government, people do.
What gets me is that while we like to describe ourselves as the great country (or were in your argument), the fact is that that greatness was often built on the backs of European immigrants who were educated in European schools.
Americans have always encouraged mediocrity and then have hung on to the coattails of those more able.
I would LOVE to see that change.
I was reading and nodding along, until I got to that strangely squished photo of Cheney, then I started laughing. Excellent post. Does this mean that you oppose replacing the mean and nasty red correction pencil with the kind and gentle purple correction pencil? Or is it elitist of me to ask?
You are exactly right. I often complain to my fellow teachers that we value hard work as at least equal to intelligence, if not more. Intelligence is a bad word.
Phil, I know where you’re coming from. What boggles me even more is this: McCain says he’s all about change. The dude voted with Bush 90% of the time.
Ten percent of “change” is not much change to me.
I just don’t get it.
Sheila, I swear that’s just Cheney’s face.
Languagelover, you’re right on with that one, and it troubles me more than just a little.
I’m not knocking hard work, God knows, and I think every single teacher on here has seen smart folks fail like crazy and hard workers pass. That said, though, you’re right — we’re virtually not allowed to say that XYZ student is having a hard time with a class because it’s a bad fit intellectually, like it would have been for me if I’d been placed in any math higher than Geometry I. We’re supposed to say that if they’d worked harder, they would have succeeded, and in some cases, this is of course true, or at least they would have done better than they did.
However, that’s not the same as saying that they comprehend the material at a deep level. I’ve seen too many classes where my beloved “pluggers” were out of their depths when the “brilliant failure” folks started riffing on a topic or subject. It underscored for me the difference between a gifted child and an academic achiever.
I think you’re giving everyone too much cridit with your analysis. Most people love what’s her name because:
1) She’s a woman with a shot at winning a major office Where No Woman Has Gone Before.
2) She’s prettier than most women in politics.
3) She’s not Hillary.
4) She’s a Republican. (Which adds drama to the whole thing because it’s the Democrats who are supposed to be doing this kind of thing. Actually, I think the Republicans could have done better if they had picked Condi Rice, because then you add the drama of her being black too.)
But what you said about being smart is pretty much dead on. However, you have to remember that things weren’t always like this and sometimes even now you can be smart and respected.
Lincoln was most likely gifted, at least that’s the way it seems from what I’ve read in biographies about him, and most people seem to be ok with that dead old guy. I think that when you take smart, and born rich, (and handsome!) you will have people not like you because they envy your backround and they think you’ve had everything handed to you. People can still like smart people if they seem miserable (like Dr. House) or if they’ve had a large struggle to get to where they are (like Lincoln).
Besides, in the past we’ve had major political shake-ups and major cultural shake-ups that have changed the way Americans act, there’s no reason to believe it can’t happen again.
As for me and my libertarian politics, I think I won’t be voting this election season.
Luthor, you said, “I think you’re giving everyone too much cridit with your analysis. Most people love what’s her name because:
1) She’s a woman with a shot at winning a major office Where No Woman Has Gone Before.”
***Yeah, but that didn’t work for Geraldine Ferraro. I don’t know, man — I don’t think women vote for women because they’re women; I think women vote for women because they like their policies, and if they’re women, that’s an extra added bonus. I don’t see many ex-Clinton fans defecting to the Palin camp because Palin is basically the anti-Hillary, the essential opposite of every major political point Clinton’s ever stood for. I’m no Clinton fan, mind you, but to offer Palin as an alternative to Hillary is a grievous mistake. She’s no Hillary.
2) She’s prettier than most women in politics.
***She is very pretty, this is true.
3) She’s not Hillary.
4) She’s a Republican. (Which adds drama to the whole thing because it’s the Democrats who are supposed to be doing this kind of thing. Actually, I think the Republicans could have done better if they had picked Condi Rice, because then you add the drama of her being black too.)
***See, I think the Repubs would’ve been smart to go with Rice because yes, she’s a woman, and yes, she’s black, which sort of double-neutralizes Obama, but what’s more important to them is that Rice has years and years of major, important, national-level experience and is extremely intelligent. Of course, she’s tainted by the Bush administration beyond repair, apparently, because I don’t even think she was seriously considered, or considered at all.
But what you said about being smart is pretty much dead on. However, you have to remember that things weren’t always like this and sometimes even now you can be smart and respected.
***I’m not seeing it, unfortunately, and this attitude of “Hate the smart and competent” strikes me as profoundly anti-American. If you had any regard for your country, why *wouldn’t* you want someone who was more qualified than you, more intelligent, more capable? Heck, that’s what I want in my doctor or my dentist; why wouldn’t I want this in my president?
As for me and my libertarian politics, I think I won’t be voting this election season.
***Aw, Luthor, don’t throw a vote away, man. Seriously. It’s up to you, of course, but I hope you vote for whoever you think would do a better job.
Excellent post. It’s nice to find someone whose opinion is so similar to my own. I’ve thought for years that Bush got elected not for quality, but for his ability to fit in with normal folk (which I also believe is incredibly ironic).
In the last three presidential elections, I’ve consistently voted for the candidate I thought was simply more intelligent (I also looked at policy and stuff, but that’s neither here nor there.); only once did the more intelligent candidate win, and the effectiveness of his Presidency was quickly destroyed by a little blue dress, which was completely unrelated to his ability to be President or his policies. Stupid dress.
-Rob
Wow! Good to know someone is seeing reality~
Thanks, Digital Rob and Asamasa — Rob, I couldn’t agree with you more about that frickin’ dress, but honestly, I’ve rarely ever seen a witch hunt like the Starr investigation anyway. If it wasn’t the dress, it would’ve been something else.
But really, who CARES about an intern pledging allegiance, YK?
It scares me how many people support Palin. I really cannot understand what people see in her. As a woman, it disheartens me to think that other women could see her as a role model and/or a leader. She is a disgrace to women and to this country. How could you be so anti-prochoice and force women to have children they do not want, cannot care for or may potentially abuse if forced to have a child. She has so little experience and will most likely help McCain put this country in an even worse position than it is now. Unless you are wealthy and have been helped by what the Republicans have done to our country, how could you vote for McCain? There is no excuse, perhaps Obama has some things to learn and maybe he is too hopeful, but Obama is my choice, he is the only chance in this election we have to begin to turn this country around.
I don’t get it either, Rita. Given especially that most of us — the sixty percent of us who earn less than 66K a year — will get a tax break under Obama that’s three to six times LARGER than the one given by McCain. Why would people want to vote for a guy who’s going to be essentially against their own economic interests?
Put another way, can people AFFORD McCain?
I was driving to work this morning listening to NPR report on the McCain campaigns tactics which in some cases include outright lying. They followed that with a piece where they were getting people’s opinions about Palin. Most of it came down to this exact thing. “She’s just like us”, “She’s a regular person”, etc.
I just sat there wondering how people can fall for this stuff, and then I had the same thought that you express here. Apparently, many people don’t want someone that is intelligent. I want someone who is smarter than me. I want someone who is at the top of the bell curve. Many of the “working class” that are supporting McCain/Palin are those who are bearing the brunt of the past eight years under Bush. They are the ones who are being laid off, foreclosed on, and losing sons and daughters in Iraq, yet they are willing to give the Republicans another four years because they can identify with a war hero and a hockey mom. I just. don’t. get it.
“Why would people want to vote for a guy who’s going to be essentially against their own economic interests?
Put another way, can people AFFORD McCain?”
1. People are, once again, voting not fr thier pocketbooks, but for what they think is “morally” correct. It is all about the Big Scary Boogie Men–Abortion and Bin Laden. The WAR on Terror…Killin Babies!!! We MUST vote for PALIN and that War Hero Guy!!! “G-D IS BIGGER THAN THE BOGGIE MAN!!” (Brought to you by a singing cucumber and tomato…)
One of the biggest reasons the AP love Palin is because she looks and acts like Church Lady. Not the one on Saturday Night Live, but the one who attends the local Big Church. She has all the right lines. You know…the one with the big house and the beautiful children, and the husbad who sits at the head of the dinner table and prays over the food. The lady we all aspire to… America.
***screeeech***
Or IS IT? See, in their world, they, or rather SHE, has been BLESSED with this task of furthering God’s Plan. She really believes thats she is destined to bring “Christ to the World.” This, in and of itself, makes the whole prospect of her running the country even more horrifying. She’s a Fundy without a strong Reality Compass.
2. The economic argument is moot, unfortunately, because we’ve been voting idiots into the White House and Congress for years. Regan anyone? Trickle down? Sigh. I could list others, but it would be pointless.
What happened to our surplus?!?!
Grumpy,
Forte
Let’s draw a comparison:
Possibly Biden’s lie to Robert Bork about his support, followed by special interest influencing him lead the charge against the Bork confirmation makes him a better candidate.
Or maybe Biden leading the Witch-Hunt against Clarence Thomas- Now that was brilliant.
Or Biden on plagiarism. (Great example here)
Maybe, the fact that he voted against the surge; is tied to credit card companies(Clearly); pushed through the worst bankruptcy bill in history, one that really hurts middle class America, while protecting credit card companies and causing part of the current foreclosure problems.
Possibly that he and Obama actually voted for the Bridge to nowhere. Sarah supported the bridge while running for Governor in 2006 stating that the money should be available for a time as they evaluated how to get this done.
Once in office she allocated $0 for the bridge stating that the state of Alaska had more pressing issues. Her predecessor allocated $195M And no, Congress did not kill the bill, the simply gave the choice to the state.
Sarah declined to take the money.
BTW, Obama and Biden voted for the bridge and then both voted against the Coburn(Amendment) to move the money $125M from the Alaska bridge project to the rebuilding of the I-10 bridge that was destroyed in Katrina- Bet the folks in New Orleans didn’t know that!!
Bet most of you out there didn’t know that.
Middle Class Dave
Bravo! Love your blog post. I’d like to point out that the folks here in MN elected Jesse “the body” ventura as governor awhile back, because they were sick of the old-school politicians. He didn’t do all that bad, but we were relieved when he was no longer governor. I think that issue doesn’t come into play here since obama isn’t old school.
Must also add that the folks on So You Think You Can Dance really do have talent — it’s Dancing with the stars where there isn’t any.
Great post of course. The infuriating part is how the GOP continually co-opts the messages of open-minded people and perverts them into something unappealing. Yes, I would like to see a woman in the White House. No, I don’t want George Bush in a dress, flipping off Russia from her back porch. Btw she and George W have one thing in common: Neither of them understand the Bush Doctrine.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The previous two replies (well can you call them “replies”?) I think illustrate the point, about the American public not wanting someone more intelligent than themselves in office , that you were making in your post. There was clearly no thought behind the “reponses”, but rather a kne-jerk reflex to “put the smart one in her place”.
Bravo for you excellent Post! Well done.
Forte
Forte
BTW, the picture of D.C. at the end gives me the willies.
Forte
Yeah, all you people with your “blog posts” and your “words”, stop messing up our otherwise flawless United States!
John Cates, it is not what this “blogger” says, it is what she believes and I’m sure how she behaves, that is the problem. This is a sad post of course. The infuriating part is how the Loopy Left continually co-opts the messages of real Americans. I would like to see Sarah Palin in the White House. I wouldn’t mind George Bush in a dress. Sarah Palin and and George W have one thing in common: They are winners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too bad the liberal media wanted Sarah Palin to rattle off various philosophical sentimenmts of the Bush administration which could be called, collectively, The Bush Doctrine. You obviously don’t understand the Bush Doctrine, or you would be saluting him and thanking his administration for keeping us safe over the last 7 years.
The Bush Doctrine is a phrase used to describe various related foreign policy principles of United States president George W. Bush, created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The phrase initially described the policy that the United States had the right to treat countries that harbor or give aid to terrorist groups as terrorists themselves, which was used to justify the invasion of Afghanistan.[1] Later it came to include additional elements, including the controversial policy of preventive war, which held that the United States should depose foreign regimes that represented a threat to the security of the United States, even if that threat was not immediate (used to justify the invasion of Iraq); a policy of supporting democracy around the world, especially in the Middle East, as a strategy for combating the spread of terrorism; and a willingness to pursue U.S. military interests in a unilateral way.[2][3][4] Some of these policies were codified in a National Security Council text entitled the National Security Strategy of the United States published on September 20, 2002.[5]
Central to the development of the Bush Doctrine is its strong influence by neoconservative ideology,[6][7] and it is considered to be a step from the political realism of the Reagan Doctrine.[6][8] The Reagan Doctrine was considered key to American foreign policy until the end of the Cold War, just before Bill Clinton became president of the United States. The Reagan Doctrine was considered anti-Communist and in opposition to Soviet Union global influence, but later spoke of a peace dividend towards the end of the Cold War with economic benefits of a decrease in defense spending. The Reagan Doctrine was strongly criticized[9][10][8] by the neoconservatives, who also became disgruntled with the outcome of the Gulf War[7][6] and United States foreign policy under Bill Clinton,[7][11] sparking them to call for change towards global stability[7][12] through their support for active intervention and the democratic peace theory.[11] Several central persons in the counsel to the George W. Bush administration consider themselves to be neoconservatives or sign on to their foreign policy ideas.[7][13][14][15][16][17]
Check out Wikipedia for the rest. Sarah Palins answer was perfectly fine!
Forte, I did delete those comments, not because they disagreed with me or you, but because they were devoid of content other than to insult. Hey, if someone disagrees and wants to talk, bravo! I’m glad to do that. Calling names, though, is a dubious skill once we’re out of fourth grade.
John, you made me laugh. Thanks!
Jan, you quoted Wikipedia at length, but unfortunately, your proof tends to disprove your contention that Palin’s answer was “perfectly fine.” Her answer generally failed to address address Wikipedia’s central point: that the defining element of the Bush Doctrine is the right to engage in a preemptive attack or “preventive war” against any nation we perceived as being a threat to the U.S., even if that threat was not immediate, as in Iraq.
This doctrine is more than dangerous, by the way. It is immoral and illegal.
You’re right Jan, I have not given Ms. Palin enough credit. It does take a supreme understanding and intellect to take all the information in that Wikipedia definition and condense it down to the concise and brilliant statement that she gave to describe it.
“His world view?”
By the way…quoting Wikipedia? Really?
(You’re welcome Adso, let’s not lose our sense of humor about all this.)
I don’t think anyone else has said but, “smarter than me” is correct. “Smarter than I” isn’t.
Just thought I’d clear that one up!
Oh, great post by the way!
I’m Not Adso,Jan, but I’d sure like to “salute” Bush.;) I’m confidant that the election will be enough of a salute from the American people.
Have a great day!
Forte
wow you are very pretty girl!!!
Kit, I feel the urge to clarify: Technically, both “smarter than me” and “smarter than I” are correct. I could explain, but this site provides a nice concise reason for this:
http://orangetangerine.blogspot.com/2006/10/so-you-think-youre-smarter-than-me.html
Incredible. Another boring dissertation on the “mysteries” of politics, leadership, and that darn fickle voting public. I can sum up the entire column: “OVER-ANALYSIS”. Yeah, we get it. Everyone who doesn’t vote for Obama is a stupid, narrow-minded and determinedly flawed dumb-ass. Gee, ever think about posting something new and original? I’d rather have toothpicks shoved under my fingernails than read any more of this drivel.
I, for one, welcome my new over-analyzing overlord…
Forte
Where can we read Free Man’s “appropriately-analyzed” insights?
I’m going to guess Free Man is a neo-con. Why? They generally don’t care for much analysis, it’s better to just accept what you are told without question. Did you hear Obama is a secret Muslim? Is it true? I don’t know, I don’t go for all that useless “analysis”.
P.S. I got a whole box full of toothpicks!
John and Forte, I’m laughing my butt off right now…
Signing off,
Adso the Toothpick Lover
***Kit, I could be wrong, because I don’t pretend to be the grammar deity, but I do think “smarter than I” is correct in this context, because you’re basically shortening the clause from “…smarter than I am.” You can’t say “smarter than me am.”
Here’s a link. http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/t.html
I should add, though, that that “me/I” distinction is really, really for the grammar-picky and that “than I” sounds very formal and stuffy.
It is good that you guys have this little pow wow going on now where you all make each other feel so great about how unintelligent you guys are. It will help you when you have a ready made support group to deal with the loss of your “wonderboy” after the election. Many happy returns.
We love Sarah Palin the way the people of Alaska love Sarah Palin. She took office on December 4, 2006 and has been very popular with Alaska voters. Polls taken in 2007 early in her term showed her with a 93% and 89% popularity among all voters.[71] A poll taken in September 2008 shows her popularity at 82%.[72][73] Palin declared that top priorities of her administration would be resource development, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development.[74]
Palin had championed ethics reform throughout her election campaign. Her first legislative action after taking office was to push for a bipartisan ethics reform bill. She signed the resulting legislation in July 2007, calling it a “first step” declaring that she remains determined to clean up Alaska politics.[75]
She will clean up Washington D.C. too. She will get rid of your good old boy wanna be, Barrack!
You guys really need to get a life. Don’t you wish you could just erase anything you didn’t like? The real world doesn’t work that way!!!
We’re queer and we’re here so get over it. Get over yourselves!!!
Brought to you by another PUMA FOR palin!!!
Bill Clinton praised John McCain as a great man. He praises Sarah Palin as an institnctive politician.
On a day when Obama sought to convince voters that he’s best able to handle the economic crisis, the former president said it was his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who gave today “the most detailed position” on what to do about the financial crisis.
In an interview with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, Clinton, who has tried to put to rest rumors of tensions between himself and Obama said, “I’ve never concealed my admiration and affection for Sen. McCain. I think he’s a great man.
When asked if he was surprised by the bounce Senator John McCain received in the polls after choosing Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate, former President Clinton said he wasn’t, and lavished praise on the Alaska governor.
“No, she’s a– she’s an instinctively effective candidate,” he said, “And with a compelling story. I think it was exciting to some, that, that she was a woman. It was exciting that she was from Alaska. It was exciting that she’s sort of like the person she is. And she grew up in a, came up in a political culture and a religious culture that is probably well to the right of the American center. But, she didn’t basically define herself in those terms,” Clinton said.
See, many people admire is not love Mrs. Palin. Do you think you all could find it tin your hearts to respect this wonderful woman? Throw dowwn your hatred and do what is right for this country and flush Obama down your commodes!
by Lynette Long
People wonder how I could vote Republican when I am a lifelong Democrat and I don’t agree with the Republicans on many key issues. This election I’m voting on Principle over Policy and Patriotism over Promises. Politicians pander to the electorate to win votes. Obama is no different. I don’t care what he says he is going to do for America, as my grandmother used to say, “Talk is Cheap.” What I care more about is “Who is Barack Obama?” and “What has the Democratic Party become?” So in a clear effort to explain my position, here are 14 reasons I will not vote for Obama, my party’s nominee.
The Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee has never been a woman. How can I support a party that is primarily composed on women but run by men?
Obama sat for 20 years inside Trinity United Church of Christ which exposes Black Liberation Theology and listened to Rev. Wright his mentor trash America and white Americans. How can I support a candidate that goes to a church that preaches hatred in any form?
Obama casts himself as a candidate of change but he is an old Chicago-style politician. He won his first State Senate race by eliminating all other candidates on technicalities and his U.S. Senate race by opening the sealed divorce file of his opponent and forcing his opponent to withdraw. How can I vote for a candidate who is not who is says he is?
The Democratic Party was silent to the rampant sexism that occurred during the primary process. How can I support a party that did not acknowledge the rampant sexism in the campaign and consequently ignored me as a woman?
Obama did not stand up for Senator Clinton when Rev. Wright and Father Pflaeger trashed her from the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ. When Ludacris called Hillary an irrelevant bitch, Obama was mute. How can I support a nominee, without the courage to stand up against blatant racism and sexism?
Nancy Pelosi, in conjunction with other Democratic leaders, paid off superdelegates to get them to vote for Obama. How can I support a party that pre-selected its nominee?
Obama only lost one out of fourteen caucuses. Obama lost twenty-one out of thirty-eight primaries. This discrepancy is due to voter fraud, voter intimidation, busing, and voter suppression in the caucuses. How can I support an illegal nominee, a nominee who will use any means necessary to win?
Democratic insiders knew about the caucus fraud and voter fraud during the primary process. How can I support a party that turned a blind eye to the blatant irregularities during the primary process?
Obama is inexperienced. He has served less than one term in the United States Senate of which he has spent most the time campaigning. How can I support a candidate that does not have the experience to lead this country?
Obama has numerous questionable associations. There is an old expression, “By his friends, shall ye know him.” How can I vote for someone I don’t trust?
Obama ignored the will of 18 million voters did not choose Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate. How can I support a nominee who brushed aside the will of 18 million voters?
The Democratic Party which is composed of 60% women has not put a woman on the Democratic Ticket for 24 years. How can I support a party that takes the votes of the women of the party for granted?
Barack Obama had a sham of a roll call at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and strong armed delegates to cast their votes for him. Clinton Delegates, were shouted down, threatened with their jobs, and replaced. How can I support a nominee who does not support democracy?
How can I vote for a candidate I don’t trust, whose character is questionable, who I believe obtained the nomination illegally, who ignored the blatant sexism leveled a Senator Clinton and Governor Palin, and is too inexperienced to do the job? I can’t.
VOTE DEMOCRATIC IN 2008? NEVER! RETURN TO THE PARTY IN 2012? NOT SURE!
September 22, 2008
Posted by hillbuzz under Uncategorized
Take that!!!
Wow, Jan. How many days did it take you to dig all of that up? Thanks for the lesson. I’ll be sure to “throw down my hatred” for Palin–just for you. I’ll also be sure and retain my contempt for her.
“Take that?!?!”
Seriously, How Old are you?
I’m really not sure what you are hoping to accomplish here;)
Forte
Oh…I also am not in any kind of a mood to compare Palin to Clinton. There just isn’t any way to connect the dots.One is NOT interchangable for the other. It is like comparing pigs to lipstick.
Forte
Jan is a dutiful troll. Sent to respond to any anti-GOP talk with robotic talking points. Good work Adso for really rattling their cages. What makes me laugh is the way that Jan, in the midst of what must have been several minutes of an angry cutting and pasting project, told all of us to “get a life”. Ok, Jan, I’ll take “that”. Your boy McCain (the deregulator) is really showing well this week don’t you think? Now log off, O’Reilly is on with tomorrow’s talking points! Get your pen.
Forte, John, I couldn’t agree more. Jan, I enjoyed the moment of cognitive dissonance you thoughtfully provided when you told us to stop hating and to throw Obama down the commode.
Irony, anyone?
That was a great 29 seconds Palin was able to give the media today, though. Really helpful conversation with Karzai.
Flushing Obama down the commode is not a hateful act. It is ridding our beautiful country of waste.
Victor Davis Hanson wrote a very evocative piece on the meaning of Wisdom, how one acquires wisdom in various ways and what it accrues to the individual who pursues it. It is a very deeply felt and thoughtful write up, and I will excerpt it minimally, since no part can really be taken out. Read it here.
The qualities that allowed a Palin to succeed without the power spouse, the identity politics, the Ivy-League cachet, the fawning New York editors and DC insider-press will ensure she does not implode on the campaign trail—and won’t in office either…
but so far I think Palin understands the symbiotic world of word and the world of deed far more so than does Obama.
I wish to remind everyone that there are two fonts of wisdom: formal education, and the tragic world of physical challenge and ordeal.
Palin can speak, and reason, and navigate with bureaucrats and lawyers as well as can Obama; but he surely cannot understand hunters, and mechanics and carpenters like she can.
Palin in empirical fashion bucked the Republican establishment and the old-boy network when she thought it was unreasonable; Obama never figured out or at least never questioned Tony Rezko or the Chicago machine, Trinity Church or the Pelosi-Kennedy liberal mantra—unless it proved advantageous.
Jan, this could be the first time you’ve written something that actually makes good argumentative points without quoting wikipedia or rudely bashing your opposition. If all of your arguments were written this way, you might win me over. Or, at least respect your opinion.
I agree with languagelover about Jan’s last post. Of course she first had to compare Obama to excrement. But hey, that’s just how she warms up.
But seriously, Jan, unless you’re referring to the birth of her son, which not everyone would regard as a physical trauma and ordeal, what physical trauma and ordeal has Palin suffered? And why is Obama, whose single mom was on food stamps, not capable of understanding hunters, mechanics, and carpenters?
You should come and live in England, where lots of very intelligent, experienced politicians are making a thorough mess of everything.
That said, I’d still rather them than Sarah Palin, who is frankly terrifying.
You like intelligence in your candidates? Why does it have to be measured in a school for it to count?
By the way – George bush has the highest College GPA of any president ever.
Lots of great posts in this blog. I’m happy to have run across it. I do have one complaint:
Unlike McCain, he probably knows what countries border Iraq and unlike Palin, he believes in teaching science in school, not science fiction.
Science fiction is worthwhile because aside from its literary value (and the good science fiction has some, just like the bad literature doesn’t) it is the writing that is taking a serious look ahead into the future of this country. That’s where the ethics of technology are being talked about, from “Little Brother” by Cory Doctorow that is about living in a technologically oppressive state to the various authors that have tackled the definition of “person” when humans are living along side intelligent machines.
What Palin wants taught in school isn’t science fiction; it’s imagination. And she wants it taught as though it were the truth.
One of the ‘Conservative’ mantras going back to the late 80s is that we (the government, I guess) should operate more like a business. Like many mantras, it is spoken and not practiced. No business will succeed if it thinks it assumes it is the best. Assume you aren’t the best and continuously improve–never rest on your laurels. Too bad we missed that one. Great post. I have never been bothered by people smarter than me or people who work harder. Heck, if someone does both, that is great. They are the most interesting people to meet and the ones you can learn the most from.