Saturday, August 30, 2008
At least Sarah Palin is sexier than Dick Cheney.
Although I haven't been keeping a close eye on the news while I've been vacationing, of course I heard that Republican presidential candidate John McCain has selected Alaska governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Although I don't know much about her, at first glance I like this decision. This may be the last "outside the box" thinking we ever see from McCain, so enjoy it while you can. From what I have read about Palin, she's smart, feisty, motivated, honest and not afraid to take anyone on, even fellow Republicans. Naturally, knee-jerk liberals are all over the Internet denouncing her as an unknown, and therefore unqualified to be vice president. To which I say "Barack who?" After all, until Obama started his campaign, he was a relative unknown as well.
Although I haven't been keeping a close eye on the news while I've been vacationing, of course I heard that Republican presidential candidate John McCain has selected Alaska governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Although I don't know much about her, at first glance I like this decision. This may be the last "outside the box" thinking we ever see from McCain, so enjoy it while you can. From what I have read about Palin, she's smart, feisty, motivated, honest and not afraid to take anyone on, even fellow Republicans. Naturally, knee-jerk liberals are all over the Internet denouncing her as an unknown, and therefore unqualified to be vice president. To which I say "Barack who?" After all, until Obama started his campaign, he was a relative unknown as well.
James McGrath of the excellent blog Exploring Our Matrix has shared a link to a 2006 article from the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News.
In the article, which recounts a debate between Palin and two other gubernatorial candidates, Palin responded to a moderator's question about teaching creationism or ID in public schools:
Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. "Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject -- creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.Naturally, I don't like reading this kind of underinformed babble, especially from someone aspiring to national office. The daughter of a science teacher should know better!
You can't "teach both". There's nothing to teach when it comes to creationism and intelligent design, except for unprovable religious belief. At best, you have a totally untestable hypothesis. And if something can't be confirmed or refuted by testing, it doesn't come close to being science. Of course, I've ranted about this before.
Asked for her personal views on evolution, Palin said, "I believe we have a creator." She would not say whether her belief also allowed her to accept the theory of evolution as fact.
This to me sounds like she is not a proponent of evolutionary theory (at least as it pertains to humans). Let's face it: when you're running for political office and you have an opportunity to appease people on two different sides of an issue with one sentence, you're gonna take that opportunity. Palin had the perfect opportunity to do just that. She could have identified herself as a theistic evolutionist. However, she chose to say nothing other than "I believe we have a creator". This tells me that Palin did not want to offend supporters of evolution, and she didn't want to lie and say she had both faith and a trust in the science of evolutionary theory. I've heard of lying by omission, but honesty by omission is something I don't see a lot of. I don't know the religious demographic of the people of Alaska, but I believe it is a predominantly Republican state. Maybe she didn't want to offend the religious conservatives in her state, I just don't know.
I'm almost tempted to give Palin a pass on this one, because overall I think she's an interesting choice from what I have read about her so far. What she lacks in national-level leadership and foreign policy experience I have little doubt she'll make up for quickly. However... due in large part to Dick Cheney, the office of Vice President is a lot more influential and powerful than it was in the days when all that was expected of vice presidents was to help the presidential candidate win the election, attend state funerals and cast the occasional tie-breaking Senate vote. Vice presidents can hold sway in arenas such as science and science funding (anyone remember Al
I'm a Republican, and normally vote Republican on the national level, but hate the direction this country has gone under Dubya. McCain sounds a lot like Bush, and I just can't take four more years of Bush policies, especially regarding Iraq. McCain used to be a maverick but now seems to be just another tired old Republican. He's got a lot of convincing to do, in my eyes. That is not to say I am necessarily voting for Obama. I have a lot of research to do yet, and it ain't gonna be pretty. This is probably going to be the most gut-wrenching voting decision I've ever had to make. Hopefully, some useful information will start trickling out about the real intentions of both candidates after both conventions are over.
Sigh. Which campaign-promise-ditching, do-nothing lying fat craphead to vote for? As was so eloquently said on an infamous episode of South Park, you always end up having to choose between a douche and a turd sandwich, no matter who the candidates are.
Whoever the next president is, he better get our troops out of that totally unnecessary mess called Iraq. Quickly. That's Bush's unforgivable screw-up, and I expect the next president to get us out of that hellhole.
Source: Anchorage Daily News
11 Comments:
I miss 1980 when the combination of the Iranian hostage crisis and Reagan's election caused me to revel in my conservative fervor . . . Now I just feel lost amidst a sea of incompetence, deceit and outright conspiratist-driven angst . . . I honestly don't know who to vote for and really feel uncharacteristally gloomy about our future . . .
Sigh . . . I don't know much about Palin but enjoyed your take . . .
I think McCain just blew the election with his choice of Palin (nice Vogue cover by the way)
Plucky I'm with you. Eight years of Bush has really got me depressed about being a Republican. I don't loathe Bush the way the libs do, but I'm sick of defending him as he becomes increasingly indefensible. I just can't ignore the incompetence, bad intelligence and rush-to-war that caused this Iraq mess. I was for the war at first, but 4,000+ American lives later, what's been gained? Not a damned thing. It's been all for nothing. I hate agreeing with screeching libs but in this case I have to. If it hadn't been for Iraq I would still be a Bush supporter but I can't justify supporting him anymore. As far as Palin goes, I feel better about maybe voting McCain because she represents a change from the status quo. But I generally cast presidential votes based on the presidential candidate, not the VP candidate. Maybe the best thing to do is not reward the Republicans with four more years... maybe a few years in "time-out" will get them to change their ways. Like you, I don't have a clue who to vote for.
Smokes, you may be right, who knows. Palin has her opportunity to strut her stuff and impress the American people in the coming two months. She can make or break McCain, so in my mind the jury is still out. I'm happy McCain tried to shake things up with an unconventional veep choice though. Shows some original thinking.
I thought Pawlenty was going to cry during his interview with Brokaw.
Palin gets no pass from me on this issue. If she can't figure out what's what on such a clear cut issue as creationism and evolution I hold no hope that she would be able to make good decisions on areas where the science is not as clear. I guess Paris Hilton wasn't available. More celebrity and Big Lie driven politics.
This is going to be a tough choice, indeed. I don't like either candidate, and really dislike Biden. Palin's the only one running that I don't hate.
She's far from perfect, but better than any alternative.
I'm really paying attention to the next few months.
Gumby,
Come on now..............
Have you forgotten the Yellow Cake transferred to Canada? How about all the chemical weapons used on the Kurds? I suppose those just disappeared? Most likely they're in Jordon or Iran right now.
Besides from a military sense, WE NEEDED and continue to NEED a base for military equipment and man power right next to Iran. We have to keep that country and it's own brand of 'Fundies' on a very tight leash.
I for one get tired of having to explain to folks who should know better that we are in a very long term war with Fundamentalist Islam. And we need a government in the middle east that will allow us to use them as a military base. We certainly can't count on Saudia Arabia to allow us to use their territories.
As far as the election is concerned, McCain is the only choice. I'd alot rather have Fred Thompson in there, but hey...... we're going to have to chose between McCain and Obama.
McCain is certainly NOT Bush III, don't buy that pig the Dem's are selling (go read some of Dick Morris's take on this, love him or hate him, Morris is brilliant). Obama is the MOST liberal man to ever run for the Presidency, look at his voting record, and Biden is right behind him.
Obama would ruin in short order this great country, he is a man we cannot afford to allow into the White House.
Do your research on Obama, and you'll find endless connections to Marxist thinkings. Frank Marshal Davis, Black Liberation Theology (which is based on Marxism, look it up), and the man (I forget his name right now) that Obama worked under as a community planner was the protege of the author of a book called (I believe) the Hand Book for Radicals, which Michelle Obama stole some lines out of in her speech at the Dem Convention.
At some point, we have to realize that if you have all these associations and mentors (not to mention Ayers) you likely (no doubt in my mind) share their beliefs.
Sorry for the rant.
Great post! I'm excited about the philosophic direction of our country that she represents: a corruption buster and no-nonsense executive that puts good people regardless of party in positions of leadership and working together to get the business of the people done, not more gridlock. Plus, I think the conservative issues she represents, while I shy away from them, need to be on the table and discussed in the open if our country is going to ever end it's polarization. Even if you don't agree with the ideas of the other party, you need to respect them and understand where those ideas are coming from. If you can't respect those with whom you differ, you'll never succeed in bringing this country back together as a nation rather than it's increasing multi-polarity of diasffected interest groups. When did we stop being Americans and when did we start being liberals, conservatives, gays, feminists, Jews, hispanics, blacks, arabs, etc, etc. etc. Arent we all Americans? IF Sarah Palin can achieve anything she says she has achieved in Alaska and can do anything to bring this country back together, than her pick as VP is an inspired one regardless of her neoconservative agenda.
We need to be a nation first. Then we can sort out the issues that face us. And that's why I'm excited after watching Sarah Palin's speech in Dayton.
cheers!
OTL, as far as I'm concerned, neither candidate has much going for them. And I'm not buying into the story that we needed to invade Iraq to continue the war on terror, or because of alleged yellowcake (God I loathe that stupid word now), or because of WMD's that either never existed or never will be found (i.e. moot point), or to have a base next to Iran.
I'm all for the war on terror, that is, I'm all for finishing what the raghead extremists started on 9/11. I'm all for squishing terrorists like the crawling vermin they are. However, in my opinion, Iraq is not helping us accomplish that goal, and is in fact a major and bloody distraction. I don't see any justification for this war 5 years later, although I was for it at first. At least the surge is keeping casualties down for now.
I'm disappointed enough in the Bush-led Republican Party that I'm willing to do something I've never done before in a national election - look at what the other side has to offer. I'll say right now I'm more than likely voting for McCain, so don't hate on me bro! lol. But when I vote for a candidate just because he may be the lesser of two nimrods, that's a sign to me that this country's political system is in deep trouble.
I don't believe the propaganda from either side anymore - I've seen the same tired pro/con arguments over and over and over and over and over in the news and in political discussion forums. Same bullshit rhetoric gets tossed around (by politicians, the electorate and the media) and nothing gets done because the vitriol and finger-pointing have become more important than the issues.
Democratic or Republican, there is no one-party magic cure for what ails this country. I have an acquaintance who advocates voting every single incumbent in Washington out of office, and starting over. Unrealistic, I know, but it's very appealing to me in this day and age... I mean come on now... we have over 300 million people in this country and we can't get a decent crop of leaders into office? What's wrong with this picture? Donkeys or elephants, they're all self-serving pigs feeding from the same taxpayer trough and "we the people" are not exactly high on their priority lists. It's time for that to change, because more and more people are seeing the Democratic and Republican parties for the shams that they both currently are. I'd love to see a valid third party come in and wake the Dems and Reps out of their comas. Nothing like a little competition to wake you up, after all.
No one party has the answers to the myriad problems this country faces. And until we realize that as a nation, our "leadership" is just going to continue to rip our heads off and shit down our necks.
Sorry for the rant.
:)
Mr. Urdan, I think at the very least she's an intriguing choice, and that's rare in recent decades. There's a lot to like there but I really don't know enough about her to form a real opinion. Hopefully she'll continue to reveal herself to be the kind of person that I'm seeing so far. There's some things about her that give me pause, but no red flags yet.
Love your blog btw.
You
Gumby,
I only regret that I'm too damn old to serve in Iraq.
If the military would let old time lifters (and I guarantee you I can out bench 90+% of the youngsters they will take) into the service I'd be there in a heartbeat!
Doesn't really matter if you will buy that we need a base in Iraq, it remains a fact that we do!
As far as Palin is concerned, I'm very excited about her..... I think she's a breath of fresh air into Washington and much closer to a true Conservative mind. She also has the most experience as far as serving as President of the bunch. Ever notice that most Presidents come from the ranks of Governor? There's a good reason for that!
What we need in Washington are Conservatives who aren't ashamed of being Conservatives.
Unfortunately, in Politics we usually end up voting for the lesser of two evils. But in this case Obama is truly the least qualified and the most dangerous. So look at it as voting for the 'least' dangerous. Vote for McCain!
God Bless
Like many Republicans, I've been a bit down lately. Eight years of a bonehead will do that to you.
There is, by the way, no point in defending the man. He's only in office because he ran against two men who are arguably even less appealing -- Al Gore (who I'm still convinced was carved out of wood) and John Kerry (a man you'd just like to punch in the face as soon as he opens his mouth). Bush is lousy -- he embodies and amplifies all the flaws of his father.
Having said all of that, I'm actually enthusiastic about this election, and I haven't felt such passion about voting for a president since I turned 18-years-old in 1987. Palin isn't without her flaws, of course, but I do believe she's bright enough and pragmatic enough to at least keep an open mind rather than falling back on whatever knotheaded notions are in vogue (one of Bush's major problems is that he's anything but flexible).
That's something encouraging, at the very least.
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