Letters to the Editor
anonny
Published Letters: 124 Editor's Choice: 13
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Obama is smarter than many think
[Read the article: Is Obama ready to make nice with Fox News?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Obama ran for President when most people told him Hillary couldn't be beat.
Obama ran a summer campaign and the DNC according to his team's plans despite constant complains from many Democrats who thought he should have gone negative earlier.
Look, this guy is a brilliant manager and strategist. That's not to say he's perfect, but he has and even temperment, a long-term vision, and near perfect execution.
The Fox News appearance does possibly three things for him.
First, his biggest strength with independents is that he's truly building bridges with other factions. He's doing that, not by compromise, but by collaboration. Many criticized him for his appearance on the Warren show, but like his appearance on Fox it shows that he's not fearful and able to hold his own, even when the cards are stacked against him.
Second, O'Reilly isn't a great interviewer. He's known for badgering witnesses, but if you see how someone with presence and a full command of the fact handles him, check out his interview with Hans Blix. Sure, the O'Reilly fans walked away thinking O'Reilly made mince meat out of Blix, but of course they will. Any independent minded person watching, however, noted that every time O'Reilly tried to introduce a distortion or factual error embedded in a question Blix pounced on it and corrected him. Blix had logic and reason on his side. Obama can deal with O'Reilly.
Third, the presence of Murdoch is probably key to understanding this arrangement. Murdoch has a habit of keeping on the good side of whoever is in power (google Murdoch and Tony Blair if you aren't aware of their long-standing partnership). Yes, they tried mercilessly to take down Clinton, but Fox News was launched AFTER Gingrich got into power. Earlier this year Murdoch cuddled up to Hillary, as he could foresee the changing of the guard and didn't want to be left out of power. Once Hillary lost he started trying to get back in Obama's good graces. Obama's doing this as a test -- if I give you this chance, will you back off the unfair attacks on me? If they do, Obama's situation improves. If they don't, then Obamas hasn't lost anything -- and if he and the Dems win big in November Fox will be facing some very unfavorable regulations changes. I suspect Murdoch will tell Ailes to back off.
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Palin -- The Authoritarians
[Read the article: Poll: Half say Palin isn't experienced enough to be president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree with others that are appalled that 42% think she's qualified.
There are two severe problems with her. First is that she's a full blood Dobsonite. From the book "The Authoritarians" she is a full-fledged Right Wing Authoritarian (RWA) who also shows a lot of symptoms of Social Dominance Orientation (SDO).
As part of the studies for that book there was an experiment done using an international governmental simulation. Unbeknownst to the participants or those running the simulation, in a few runs of the simulation the participants were separated into an all-RWA group and an all-non-RWA group. The non-RWA groups worked cooperatively to address all the problems presented. The RWA groups consistently fought tooth and nail and literally destroyed the world -- and even when their errors were explained to them and they were given a second chance they again destroyed the world.
We know Rove/Cheney/Bush fit are of this personality type, and the results after 8 years are obvious. I didn't think McCain was this type, he's just a typical power-hungry opportunist. But Palin is even worse. A self-described pitbull with a the world's biggest arsenal of WMDs at her disposal. Oh boy. Not my idea of a qualified candidate.
The second problem with her experience is that it is so centered on her isolated small town and (only recently) her extremely isolated state. Unlike Obama, she didn't get two degrees at cosmopolitan Ivy league schools, associating with people from all over the world and studying national and international issues. Instead she went to a series of low tier, lily-white (except for her first term in Hawaii), colleges in isolated Idaho studying journalism -- which is like mass communications, a subject that is popular with those with the lowest academic aptitudes.
She then spent most of her life focused on her kids, their schools, and her small town issues. To compare that to Obama's experience as a civil lawyer, as a lecturer at a prestigious law school, as a State legislator in a much more complex state, and as a US Senator who worked on foreign policy committees and, despite being a freshman senator, drove through 3 major pieces of legislation in co-authorship with a Republican -- well, the two don't compare.
The Republican's have waged a War on Education for the past 28 years, and the results of this poll have vindicated their efforts.