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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
I'm happy to discuss issues regarding McCain's VP selection. Let's start with the issue of patriotism. John McCain and the Republicans use his background as a member of the military and his POW status as proof of his patriotism and leadership. Palin supported (and was possibly a member of) a group that advocates seccession from the United States for Alaska. That doesn't seem too patriotic to me.
Then there is the issue about sex education in the schools. Palin has stated that she is against it. Apparently, she is also against sex education in the home. All one needs to do is look at Palin's own family to prove that abstinance only programs don't work. That's an important issue.
McCain's people proclaim that he is a model of integrity. Palin is currently under investigation for abuse of her power as governor of Alaska by trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job. I would hardly call that integrity. I also have to wonder how the guy got his job in the first place. Perhaps more undue influence?
Then there is the issue of family values. If Palin's daughter's privacy and ability to stand up in public without embarrassment was of any value to her, she would never have made the decision to run for Vice President and expose the kid to the national scrutiny and derision that she is going to experience over the next few months.
There's four issues. I'm certain that someone more politically adept than I am can come up with a lot more.
...issues aren't the issue here. What actually happens (and as a Republican I'm painfully aware of this and of the fact that Democrats remain painfully unaware) that issues take a back seat in politics to impressions and symbolism.
Good to hear from you. Was getting ready to post something similar in another thread. I think it's part of human nature to create mythos and seek stories about ourselves. The personage that becomes a symbol and embodies abstract concepts will always be more powerful than the concepts themselves. And yes, the Republicans appear to have come to terms with this in ways the Democrats have not. That fact that it doesn't add up and could all be B.S. in direct contradiction with reality is besides the point.
I think Obama has a handle on this, though and can offer a compelling counter narrative. It's one of his strengths. Most of us are getting ripped off and our standard of living will continue to decline without a big change of course. I'm beginning to doubt that McCain will be able to offer a compelling vision of the future beyond more of the same, only better. We'll know soon enough if Palin can pitch it any better.
reporting job, Mike.
Did Tucker Eskew dictate it to you?
Looking for a job with AP?
The insight we can glean from this is that McCain is a maverick, but not a leader. McCain surrounded himself with people who didn't do their job well and and didn't push for a decision quickly enough to fully vet his choice and to create a strategy for the issues that would emerge. The bottom line: McCain and the people he selected to advise him exercised reckless and poor judgment. They exercised this poor judgment on the most "presidential" of decisions a candidate can make.
BUT, we need to move on. This election isn't about Palin or Biden. It is, contrary to Rick Davis' statement today "about the issues." The main issue is about which of the two candidates is the better choice to bring change to the messes of the past 8 years.
For those of us who support Obama we need to remember why we do. I went back and listened to his speech on race tonight and all of the Palin stupidity and the McCain/GOP fear-mongering spectacle drifted away. I remembered why I am so engaged in this election: because I have hope that we can rise above the dirty, mud-slinging of politics and focus on the possibilities that this country can be.
Barack Obama has been amazingly focused on what matters to all of us. I am sure, much to his advisers' initial chagrin he has had to pull everyone forward and out of the muck and back on point. He is disciplined, on a mission of change and has ignored the Palingates as he presses forward. Obama supporters have been trapped in the soap operah that is Sarah Palin. We are off track and need to focus on what it is that we are fighting for and not take the time to look back at what we are fighting against.
The insight we can glean from this is that McCain is a maverick, but not a leader. McCain surrounded himself with people who didn't do their job well and and didn't push for a decision quickly enough to fully vet his choice and to create a strategy for the issues that would emerge. The bottom line: McCain and the people he selected to advise him exercised reckless and poor judgment. They exercised this poor judgment on the most "presidential" of decisions a candidate can make.
BUT, we need to move on. This election isn't about Palin or Biden. It is, contrary to Rick Davis' statement today "about the issues." The main issue is about which of the two candidates is the better choice to bring change to the messes of the past 8 years.
For those of us who support Obama we need to remember why we do. I went back and listened to his speech on race tonight and all of the Palin stupidity and the McCain/GOP fear-mongering spectacle drifted away. I remembered why I am so engaged in this election: because I have hope that we can rise above the dirty, mud-slinging of politics and focus on the possibilities that this country can be.
Barack Obama has been amazingly focused on what matters to all of us. I am sure, much to his advisers' initial chagrin he has had to pull everyone forward and out of the muck and back on point. He is disciplined, on a mission of change and has ignored the Palingates as he presses forward. Obama supporters have been trapped in the soap operah that is Sarah Palin. We are off track and need to focus on what it is that we are fighting for and not take the time to look back at what we are fighting against.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
