Hard News: Go Us
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on that alone she would get my vote. chrissakes you call yourselves liberals?
Sage: Last time I looked, liquor licensing was a matter for state and local government, not the federal executive. But nice try.
I do, however describe myself as a fiscal conservative, and socially moderate. What is Palin's position on an amendment to the Constitution to prevents states legislating same-sex marriage or civil unions. She's on the record as being in favour. Could she chair a national security meeting in McCain's absence -- or even grasp the briefing papers that would come across her desk on a daily basis? Seen little evidence on that so far. What are her substantive views on the state of things in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Georgia, Russia's relationship with its neighbours and Europe, China etc? Whatever! What role does she see for the federal government in addressing serious economic instability at home -- does she see the McCain Administration's as more Friedman or Keynes?
Despite what you might think, I don't really care about Bristol Palin's uterus. That's not standing to become, arguably, the most powerful woman in history. Sarah Palin is, and I'm still waiting to see any indication that McCain-Palin aren't batting in the bush leagues.
Oh, and I've heard on the radio one candidate burble "She's our next Margaret Thatcher." In your dreams, sister.
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Andrew Sullivan:
"If Sarah Palin did not exist, Stephen Colbert would have to invent her."
Score!
But don't you think someone in the writers' room would have said, "Stephen - really, too OTT. Even for you." :)
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The Kilkenny link made me think a little. The repugs are talking up her 6 year mayorship and 20 month governorship as sufficient "executive experience" to be that proverbial heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world today.
Kilkenny wrote:
You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.
So I thought I'd look for NZ equivalents, just so we can appreciate the level of "experience" gained. Wasilla is, apparently because it says it is, a City. In NZ, we require a city to have 50,000 residents .
(2001 figures for comparison with Wasilla)
Dunedin 114,342
Napier 53,661Okay, we're not going to find a comparison in our city councils. Let's look at district councils"
Otorohanga 9,279
Mackenzie 3,717
Kaikoura 3,483
Opotiki 9,150
Kawerau 6,975
Carterton 6,849Umm, or even town populations:
Red Beach 5,658
Orewa 5,634So, there's your equivalent. We don't even have governing bodies for those two populations - they come under the Rodney District Council. While I'm sure Penny Webster is a lovely person, I don't know that I'd find her qualified to be VPOTUS.
So, let's look at the governorship part. The only comparable bodies in NZ (in terms of population) are regional councils and then only 3:
Alaska (2000) 628,932
Wellington (2001) 427,545
Canterbury 494,952
Auckland 1,173,639NZ's GDP was $US128.1B (official cash rate) in 2007; Alaska's was $US39.9B.
Would you say that any of our local or national politicians are ready to be POTUS?
As Bill Clinton (and others) have said, nobody is ready to be President on day 1
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But some are less ready than others
(sorry, hit post instead of preview)
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if democrazy was even trying to represent anyone you'd expect people'd be able to give their second choice if not their top 5
A likes sandwiches
B likes Souvlaki
C & D like chicken
E likes lattewhat's for dinner sage?
Whereas, in China you eat what you're told, right Mark?
.....
Oh wait, I get it now: You're saying you favour the STV voting system. Good on you!
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That McCain did not go with a traditional pick when the electorate is clearly in the mood for change?
I thought conservatives were agin' change fer changes sake?
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If Sarah Palin did not exist, Stephen Colbert would have to invent her.
I just watched Colbert's The Word segment on Palin. May a possibly nonexistent deity rain blessings down upon his head. I love that man. The part where he says that since Mt McKinley is the closest part of the USA to space, Palin has space exploration policy experience? Gold.
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"Moose attack" FTW
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Shakesville just posted another one of those weirdly honest microphone-catches from Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan. Even conservatives think they're toast, at this point.
Still, never underestimate the power of the Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
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Heh, Danielle beat me to the punch!
You were miked, Peggy. Will they ever learn?
Read her column in which of course she said the exact oppositeAs anybody linked to Buchanan and Scarborough laughing at the prospect of a Palin pick last Friday morning? That was pretty good too.
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GOP Vetting Emporium (and Taco Stand)
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Craig says:
And I'm off chasing the goal posts again.
Now that's the part of your set to with sagenz I really am enjoying.
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Just a point of fact here.
It is now regularly said that Sarah Palin doesn't believe in AGW and that fits in with her support of big oil.
Thomas Friedman makes the claim in today's New York Times.
With his choice of Sarah Palin — the Alaska governor who has advocated drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and does not believe mankind is playing any role in climate change — for vice president, John McCain has completed his makeover from the greenest Republican to run for president to just another representative of big oil.
But in her op-ed piece in the Times back in January she seems not only to accept the idea but recommends people start making suggestions to their state governments to do something about it.
The state takes very seriously its job of protecting polar bears and their habitat and is well aware of the problems caused by climate change.
….And at the end of the article.
What is justified is worldwide concern over the proven effects of climate change.
The Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned for the polar bear to be protected, wants the listing to force the government to either stop or severely limit any public or private action that produces, or even allows, the production of greenhouse gases. But the Endangered Species Act is not the correct tool to address climate change — the act itself actually prohibits any consideration of broader issues.
Such limits should be adopted through an open process in which environmental issues are weighed against economic and social needs, and where scientists debate and present information that policy makers need to make the best decisions.
Americans should become involved in the issue of climate change by offering suggestions for constructive action to their state governments. But listing the polar bear as threatened is the wrong way to get to the right answer. -
Now that's the part of your set to with sagenz I really am enjoying.
Heh... To quote Jane Austen's Mr. Bennett, " For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?" :)
Shakesville just posted another one of those weirdly honest microphone-catches from Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan. Even conservatives think they're toast, at this point.
Well, I don't think anyone who reads Noonan's column in the WSJ would be surprised by that sentiment -- she's still firmly on the right, but her criticisms of Obama and Hillary Clinton have been temperate and given what credit is due. And she's been having some serious "WTF is going on" moments for a couple of years.
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Iowa and Minnesota are no longer toss-up states - Obama up by 15 and 12 according to CNN. He's up by 2 (within the margin) in Ohio. These are the first swing-state polls since the dem convention.
Obama needs only 27 more electoral votes among all the remaining swing votes. Florida alone would do it, and Palin is going to hurt McCain there big time.
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Shakesville just posted another one of those weirdly honest microphone-catches from Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan. Even conservatives think they're toast, at this point
Read her column in which of course she said the exact opposite.
And they have the gall to call McCain "cynical??!?
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There's a rather lovely piece in The Anchorage Daily News
about how the officials in Wasilla are handiling the international attention.The Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce held its normal lunch forum Tuesday and introduced four Wasilla City Council candidates. Normal if you don't count the camera crew from The Today Show and NBC News that showed up to record the excitement.
The candidates shared their views on remedying traffic problems and dealt with a misbehaving microphone but the high spot was executive director Cheryl Metiva pulling the Chamber's weekly prize winners.
Cool under pressure, Metiva read off ticket numbers with a camera squared inches from her face.
"What do you think, folks, is this my best side?" she vamped as Emmy-award winning NBC reporter John Larson leaned against a nearby wall. In another life, Larson was news director at KTUU-Channel 2 in Anchorage, so he is used to Alaska ways.
The prizes? Newly printed "Sarah rocks the vote 2008" mugs and "Sarah's Got Game" t-shirts. At the sight of them, the crowd cheered and whistled -- all dutifully caught on tape for national viewers.
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Would you say that any of our local or national politicians are ready to be POTUS?
Excellent, I'd been wondering about the nature of her executive experience, thanks for this analysis - the answer is none IMO. I'm still of the view that Obama's contest with Hillary et al is more rigourous than anything Palin's done.
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TPM has the video and the transcript of Noonan et al's live microphone moment.
I'm running out of ways to say wow.
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mark taslov,
will the US election bring about a scenario where kiwis are sent off to some other far flung country like afghanistan to fight for freedom? and will new zealand tax payers pay for this?
if McCain wins, probability 68%
if Obama wins, probability lowerDemocrats and Republicans have stuff all effective difference on the use of force. Democrats go to war and bomb places for "humanitarian reasons". Republicans go to war and bomb places to "fight for freedom".
Clinton went to war against Serbia and annexed Kosovo because of a humanitarian crisis. Obama has adopted Darfur as a hotline issue, describing the genocide as a humanitarian issue.
Bush (the first) went to war for the freedom loving Kuwaitis. Bush (the second) invaded Iraq and Afghanistan for freedom. McCain thinks that Iran is suppressing the freedom of its people.
Somewhere, someplace a tribesman is going to hear a roar, look up and see a cruisemissile inbound. The only difference this election is going to make is whether the explosion is going to be for "humanity" or for "freedom".
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The Vetting Emporium and Taco Stand clip is also made of win. Thanks Jake!
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I'm running out of ways to say wow.
I'm going to buck a trend here: I think the state polls of this morning show that the McCain campaign was right, and Noonan is wrong. The election was lost as of last week, they needed a game changer and, long as the odds may be, Palin still has more chances of being "it" than Romney, Pawlenty or the sane women mentioned by Craig. For starters, she's already provoked a rather unseemly bout of hysteria on the left, and some hope of a series of liberal missteps in how to handle her; secondly, she could perform incredibly well tonight and on the campaign, whereas the other choices were all known and completely uninspiring quantities.
I'm still pretty confident it's over, but less so than I was on page one of the Awesome thread.
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New Republican stance is a variant on the "Change" meme. Selling McCain and Palin as outside the beltway figures who are willing to work on the basis of ideas not party. Pointing out the swill type feeding frenzy of an uninformed media (new & old) smearing Palin as working whilst pregnant, having a daughter and (left unsaid) being a woman as evidence of an establishment fearing change.
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