IF mcPAIN & FAILIN' palin ARE THE BEST THE repugnicant-rethug-repubs HAVE TO OFFER,

THEY ARE DOOMED TO SUFFER THE FATE OF THE MALLET-SMASHED HEADS OF THE UP-POPPING GOPHER!!!!!

TWO MORE BOMBASTIC IGNORAMUS IMBECILE FEEBLE-MINDED DUNCES I HAVE NEVER SEEN!!!!!!

AND LEST YOU THINK I AM BEING VICIOUSLY & UNNECESSARILY CRUEL AND MEAN,

PARDON ME WHILST I LOOK FOR SOME TINY PEAS FOR THEIR BRAIN-TRANSPLANTS TO PROFFER!!!!!

HAH(^0^)V!!!!!

AnnieW.You suggested the republican's could have picked Carly Forina instead of dumb,dumb Palin,are you thinking of the Carly who when elected CEO of H.P that the stock dropped that day and never recovered until they fired her? or H.B Hutchison another George Bush republican?doesn't look like very much of a choice out of the women you picked

Joe should know that we are about to suffer the consequences of the dumbing down of America. I want everyone to remember this year because it will be the turning point to greater poverty in the world. Government is only a small fraction as efficient as the private sector. As government grows under the Dems, so will world poverty.

You articulated this strange phenomenon so very, very well. But you left out just one little thing. The superior people only like to exchange ideas with other superior people. And if you don't march in lockstep with the superior people, then you are a troll.

Dear Joe Conason:

Please, Joe Biden has been in the Senate for about 24 years?

Has he done anything for us?

Sarah Palin talked to the people that night of the debate! Unlike Joe Biden who may be

well informed and had been a Senator for many years, did not

directly speak to the people during the debate.

Speaking of intelligence, common sense, Sarah is being a citizen like us! I do not need someone with intelligence if we are going down to drain with all these debts!

We the people of America have the big responsibility to

check on our banks as well and not to trust Congress to do

this for us!

Sarah said one important thing that all the candidates did not

point out! And that is telling us and reminding us that we, Americans have our own responsibilities as well!!!!!

One thing that Sarah said was for the people to watch their

credits and that the people should NOT live beyond their means!

This is exactly one of the reasons why we are in this messy

economic crisis!

We, the People of America, do not know our financial limits!

And the Clinton Administration pressured the banks and financial institutions to give credits to those who are on welfare and

cannot afford to pay their debts!

Speaking of intelligence, common sense, Sarah is being a citizen like us! I do not need someone with intelligence if we are going down to drain with all these debts!

We the people of America have the big responsibility to

check on our banks as well and not to trust Congress to do

this for us!

Did Barack O say that? He is fearful that if he did, he would jeopardize his candidacy! Did McCain say that? NO! Did Biden say that? NO. Only Sarah!!!!

I am not very political and I do not know what are the exact numbers that we need to bail out Wall Street but I know my responsibilities!!!!

Thank you

Linda

Well everybody knows that anybody can do this job, and the less you know the better. Any regular person who can say funny things can just go in there and just fix stuff.

Sarah has proven that she cannot think off the top of her head about national and international political issues, and will not truly debate - not about any detailed specifics. (Because she doesn't know them.)

But she is a tenacious pitbull-like salesperson. And she uses charm and every trick she's got (the lipstick part) to deliver a 90 minute memorized soundbite info-mercial.

George Bush was full of charm and folksiness too. Full of it.

And she knows much less than he did.

You get extra credit for spelling D-i-s-a-s-t-e-r correctly.

She appointed her friend head of Agriculture because her friend loved cows growing up.

Ya know, cauz it's all about qualifications - you betcha. (Wink, wink)

With a wink and a smile and the same tax cuts George Bush has given - she'll tell ya that those are the tax cuts that will help the economy and create jobs (even though we've lost millions of jobs and the economy is much worse - those tax cuts have not worked.)

Because reality and real facts don't matter. Let me tell ya what we stand for:

We'll reduce 18 billion a year in earmarks, but spend 10 billion a month in Iraq indefinitely, in a war Petraeus has said we may never really be able to "win."

We'll go through every agency to figure out what's workin' and what's not. Never mind how we'll determine any of that or how many years and millions or billions of tax dollars that will take.

Never mind how most of the deficit and most government spending is caused by the war in Iraq (300 billion), and tax cuts for the wealthy and big business (300 billion).

Never mind how that won't create jobs, or help build our country's socio-economic infrastructure to truly help most Americans: won't build our economy, or truly help with healthcare, retirement, education, etc.

Never mind how this is almostly exactly the same approach George Bush has taken.

We're the ticket for you because we're not going to help you at all. We'll just get government out of your way and let business take over.

That way business will keep raising prices but cutting jobs, wages, and benefits. Because business needs to make big profits ya know.

And if that doesn't work out for ya, well I feel for ya, I really do.

Maybe you should move to Alaska. People get paid, just to live there. That's why I'm so popular. You betcha - (Wink, wink) :)

Burtnor wrote:

But winning election battles is not the same as winning the war. The sad truth is that our educational system is producing citizens who are not competent to vote and a workforce that is uncompetitive in the global job market. Conservatives can chant USA all they want; but they don't seem to see that, leaving aside the benefits of a more just and humane society, high quality education for all is essential for technological innovation, national prosperity, and international respect.

What to do? Let's start by having a national conversation about the role of government and of citizens in a democracy. Let's talk about what really makes America strong. Raise standards for teachers and students alike. Institute universal quality pre-K. Mandate civics, comprehensive American history, geography, grammar, and research skills in the curriculum. Value science and the scientific method. Shut down diploma mills and make politicians as well as educators accountable for schools in their districts. Rebrand smart as the new bling. Get serious about investing in the ultimate sustainable resource: American brain power.But winning election battles is not the same as winning the war. The sad truth is that our educational system is producing citizens who are not competent to vote and a workforce that is uncompetitive in the global job market. Conservatives can chant USA all they want; but they don't seem to see that, leaving aside the benefits of a more just and humane society, high quality education for all is essential for technological innovation, national prosperity, and international respect.

What to do? Let's start by having a national conversation about the role of government and of citizens in a democracy. Let's talk about what really makes America strong. Raise standards for teachers and students alike. Institute universal quality pre-K. Mandate civics, comprehensive American history, geography, grammar, and research skills in the curriculum. Value science and the scientific method. Shut down diploma mills and make politicians as well as educators accountable for schools in their districts. Rebrand smart as the new bling. Get serious about investing in the ultimate sustainable resource: American brain power.

Yes. I'm a high school history teacher in an urban school, and our school does mandate civics, etc. The students take two years of US History, and I'm teaching my freshmen geography and research skills in my world history classes. My biggest problem is actually getting the students to care about education. A major reason they don't care is that someone decided that everyone should go to college and therefore vocational programs were of no value. That's just a bad decision. Access to both academic and vocational programs is what's needed now. All students should have a solid foundation of civics, math, English, and science whether they decide to pursue higher education or a vocation. That's the way the US will become competitive again, not by failing to recognize that there are plenty of smart people who just aren't academically minded. The system is failing those kids.

The gutting of pre-K programs (thanks, GOP!) is hurting the US much more than anyone really understands. The students in my school are behind their more well-off counterparts even before they start school because they're not getting the basics at home. Our students are several grades below reading level because their parents aren't reading to them in any language let alone English. They are behind in math because so many of their parents have a third-grade education and can't help them with their homework. If this situation remains unaddressed the US will continue to slip further and further behind in terms of a quality workforce resulting in more and more jobs being shipped overseas to a better-educated but cheaper workforce.

But back to the matter at hand: I still see that there are the people coming out of the woodwork who claim that Obama has less experience than Palin. You are flat-out wrong, just stop already, and as I've already mentioned, it's irrelevant anyway. The "elitists suck" crowd are still out in force as well. If it's elitist to want people to run the country who can actually string together coherent sentences to form an actual idea, well, then, I'm guilty of being an elitist. It's much better than being proudly ignorant.