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American Presidency: Country first!
Elki
get busyModerator, ClubPA Mod Emeritus
get busyModerator, ClubPA Mod Emeritus
The Economist.com wrote:ANOTHER installment of Charlie Gibson's sit-downs with Sarah Palin aired on World News Tonight on Friday—did any of you take a break from the coverage of Hurricane Ike to watch it?
My take: there was a bit of a rough start as Mr Gibson asked Mrs Palin about the economy. She had a few answers that sounded scripted ("Our 6.1% unemployment rate is unacceptable") and a drive-by pander on cutting spending (cuts to programmes for veterans are off the table). There was also a dodge on the "Bridge to Nowhere", and an incomprehensible explanation of Alaska's requests for earmarks to study the mating habits of crabs and the DNA of seals.
Mrs Palin was visibly more comfortable when Mr Gibson moved to social issues: abortion, stem-cell research, homosexuality and guns. Her answers here were rather moderate given her record. She emphasised that her opposition to abortion in almost all cases and her opposition to stem-cell research are "personal", and even allowed that a candidate may have some personal beliefs that will not be reflected in the polices of the administration. (One of our commenters observed after the first part of the interview that her role is to give Mr McCain some breathing room with the base.)
They then had a sweetheart segment, with Mr Gibson asking Mrs Palin how she manages to be a governor and mother. She explained that she was not raised to feel limited by gender, and that she figured she could have a baby while governor just as well as a man-governor could. In two more mini-segments she said (a bit smugly) that she imagines Barack Obama regrets not picking Hillary Clinton for his running mate, and that the idea that she wanted to ban books from the Wasilla library is "an old wives' tale."
Mrs Palin came off better today than yesterday, but that's not saying much; yesterday's installment was pretty bad. She'll presumably become more knowledgeable over time but at the moment I see no reason to have confidence in her understanding of foreign affairs or the economy. Maybe those Democrats who are despairing over the Palin phenomenon should take some comfort in the fact that she's less formidable now than she would be in 2012—and maybe Republicans should be miffed that this whole thing is taking the shine off of one of their rising stars.
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I used to support RP, because his wacky fans aside, he was the only small government candidate who I felt wasn't a crazy wacko (Barr, hello)... then I realized "hey Organichu, you're from Israel... you should realize RP's foreign policy is dumb". Plus RP had no chance of winning.
So I said "well, I can vote for John McCain or Barack Obama". I really dislike Obama's fiscal paradigm, but McCain's isn't exactly masterful... and Senator Obama is miles and miles ahead of Senator McCain on social issues. Really, it took me saying "do I care more about some fiscal policies that I think might stunt the economy slightly... or a social tyrant?" Choice wasn't hard- and was made even easier by the GOP's selection of batshit Palin.
So I guess I can't say I've ever supported McCain, no.
A crapload of people have been waiting for the day McCain blows up at someone on camera.
With some fava beans and a nice, chilled Fresca.
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
I'm hoping it happens in a debate.
Regarding that quote... if McCain had an email account I'd send him this link from the last thread.
He's so clean and well-spoken. Maybe someday he can run for president!
DC Comics superhero (and friend to the inestimable Blue Beetle) Booster Gold has real value.
Jesus fuck no.
You keep saying this and Santa will think you don't appreciate what you have when he makes McCain poop himself on camera.
So be grateful or we won't get any N-bombs or pooping.
I would kill for another quote like "I WILL FOLLOW HIM TO THE GATES OF HELL *creepy grin*" or have him clutch his face and roll his eyes in utter confusion like he did when he was asked about health insurance coverage and birth control, but during a debate.
So, let's say you accept the basic libertarian premise that government should shrink, the wealthy should not be required to subsidize the rest of society, etc., etc. What actually happens as a result of that?
Your food, fuel, healthcare and education (among other things) all get more expensive. Assuming you decide to rely on the market to handle externalities and collective action problems that it currently is regulated to correct for, you increase corporations' ability to foul the water and air that we all have to drink and breathe. You wind up with less effective protections of all sorts of things that we consider integral parts of our "freedoms" and quality of life. As it gets more local, you get states with the freedom to do things like criminalize abortion, and roll back protections against institutional discrimination.
You have more freedom, if that comforts you, but you have less and less ability to do anything with it. That is, except organize your fellows to collectively fix all the problems that your society no longer has effective solutions for.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I hate you Qingu. I'm voting for McCain. You can't stop me.
NNID: Hakkekage
Why would that be a problem? McCain would just be pointing out Obama is elitist, and I personally have never heard uppity used in any sort of racial context.
/end republican spin (or apparently Congressman from Georgia of all places)
In all seriousness, I think if Obama plays his cards right and tries to politely interrupt him at strategic points he might be able to elicit a "shut up and let me talk!" type of outburst, or at least some incoherent frustrated stammering that leads to a big ol' angry face.
Certain outlets. Not as an aggregate whole, though. If anything they're worse than I think because I only pay attention to the less horrible ones. I still need to find some good, reasonable Republican and conservative writers to throw into my daily mix. Sullivan only kind of counts anymore. The Economist works with the conservative angle, but nowhere near understanding the GOP as a party.
Both the AP and CNN have been trending more critical over the last ten days. And everybody talks about how ABC is "FOX lite" but Gibson and the View crew did a decent job of making both McCain and Palin look dumb over the last 24 hours, leading right into the weekend news cycle.
I give them a B+ for the week.
I'm pretty sure the GOP doesn't understand the GOP as a party.
Not that that's stopping my conservative banker uncle from thinking about voting for McCain. And I was so proud of him when he said, "We really do need to get rid of Bush" in 2005.
Actually, the fact that Ike will be compressing this news cycle is a good thing because it won't give the Pubs a chance to spin what has happened over the last two days. It's going to go: "And in campaign news, Sarah Palin is a moron and these old ladies hate John McCain. And now to Ollie on the scene in Galveston."
"Ollie?"
Edit: horrible TOTP.
oh god I can't do it
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Good. Fight the urge.
Was such a good joke, driven so far into the ground.
You are probably not from the Deep South.
With luck, though, this means that everyone will hear about the ABC slaps, then Ike will pre-empt any McCain attempts at taking back the narrative over the weekend. It'll sit in the backs of everyone's minds until Monday.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Snap out of it.
e: Dyscord, it's not for you.
Watch Les Mis.
Sinfest is so rarely political that this is really funny to me.
If this has been posted before, I'm sorry, but I'm really proud of our local reporters up here. It's kind of a sad day when Rob Caldwell from WLBZ2 up here in Bangor, ME is doing a more hard-hitting, journalistic interview than any major reporter for the national news media.
Err, its people singing the les Mis finale song in the Democratic headquarters and the individual parts are made amusingly appropriate for the sort of people one might find in a political office. John McCain also is amusingly undercover as a democratic volunteer. Its more funny for itself than some kind of biting commentary.
Aem's office should do Defying Gravity next. Campaign offices all other the country should do showtune videos.
Also Palin as Madame Thenardier hahahahahahahahahaha
NNID: Hakkekage
Which way is it raining? Huh? Which way?
Which way is it raining, Ollie?