No longer spouting their “not ready yet” mantra, the US Republicans have now jumped on the “change” bandwagon at their convention, with Palin the pit bull, as she proudly described herself, the best of the change on offer, between her and Moses Obama!
So what did she say? Once again Palin introduced her family as ‘normal’, with, she claimed, its ups and downs. Palin family ups included her son and nephew's enlistment to serve in Iraq (why, when, as Palin says, victory is near in Iraq?). Pride in her husband's achievement: “world champion snow machine racer” (does he have a winter Olympics gold medal?!). Is the world to believe then, that impending grand-mother- hood is a down for Palin?
Understandably she didn’t mention her eldest daughter’s predicament. What she could have said, or rather, what her speech writer could have written, is that she’ll ensure US teenage moms have access to a good education, so that they can rear their children with integrity, decency and honour and don’t decline into poverty.
“I'm not going to Washington to seek their (media’s) good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country”
she Palined!
Full speech here.
Which people might they be? Those that have lost their homes through the sub-prime mortgage mess? What’s Palin going to do for them? She didn’t say. What’s her plan for the US storm corridor, Gulf of Mexico, how’s she going to help her American people to rebuild New Orleans? She didn’t say. What about the US troops in Afghanistan, how long is it going to take them to find Bin Laden? She didn’t say. Is she aware that 'cracking down on Al-Qaida' now includes US troops killing villagers/civilians in Pakistan?
About China and India’s rising economic power and their effect on the US, what are her views on that? She didn’t say.
Yes, Palin spoke good, the way the US likes it, “kick-ass” filmy battle talk, but she took the easy route. She ignored the hard route; she’s too parochial for that.
While in Europe, the mentality really has changed: France’s Sarkozy met with Syria’s President to discuss Iran, that’s after making an effort to broker a peace deal with the Russians over Georgia. But at the Republican convention, well, they just sprayed their same old message: “evil of radical Islam”.
If last week’s US Democrat Convention was TV Dallas-esque, so far this week, the US Republican’s Convention has appeared as Desperate Housewives!
5 comments:
Huma,
Wow. You're really down on Palin, aren't you. She struck some chord with you and it is making your teeth chatter.
As for your questions, you need to understand that she is only the VP on the Republican ticket. The head of the ticket is to answer the questions you pose. The VP is only to fully support the head's efforts and goals. This is the case whether the VP candidate is a Republican or Democrat.
Like Biden's convention speech, Palin's convention speech was to introduce herself to the American public. "Here's who I am. Here's my history. Here's my outlook. Here's why I think my running mate will make a great president." VPs are not to set or propose policies, initiatives, or plans of action. That's the head of the ticket's job.
You really need to read up on how US politics work. You're getting a lot of this wrong.
Hello again, Scott :-)
I find it disquieting that Benazir Bhutto’s widower, Asif Zardari could win the election to become President of Pakistan, but even that wouldn’t cause my teeth to chatter.
I presume that your defence of Palin here is nothing to do with her causing a (mental) upper in you? :-)
One (male) Republican Convention attendee answered, when asked what he thought of Palin’s speech: “she’s good looking”. :-)
You really ought to accept that, even in your home nation, not everyone’s outlook on Palin mirrors yours. For example, take this view:
“Watching Palin was like a scene from Saturday Night Live. She's a mix between the condescending "Church Lady" and the cutie pie Tina Fey.
Still, she's a joke.
Having grown up in a small town, I know plenty of cute girls who got along more on thier looks than on substance. She's one of them. Cute, but lacking the know-how.”
From: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/09/public_divided.html
Realising that she didn’t write that speech (read it was prepared by a Bush former speechwriter, Matthew Scully), still, Palin seemed quite happy with the mock self-deprecating pit bull tag. She could have chosen a different animal. Which animal would you choose to describe you, Scott?
Umm, Scott, if what you say is the case, that “VPs are not to set or propose policies, initiatives, or plans of action” then how come, as reported, Joe Lieberman, reformed Democratic Republican, will be training Palin, on her return to Alaska, on foreign policy, in preparation for next month’s vice presidential debate, at Washington University, with Joe Biden?
A comment on that:
“And for the sake of Sarah Palin's long-term prospects, especially, I hope the Vice-Presidential debate showcases a different side of her conservatism.”
From: http://rossdouthat.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/two_views_of_palins_speech.php
I look forward to her answering questions, rather than reading from a script in front of a ‘home crowd’. Good luck to her but I think she can handle it.
I’ll leave you with an amusing comment I read, can’t remember where now, on the net:
“Palin vs Putin; Hockey Mom vs Hamas”
:-)
Hello again, Huma.
My defense of her has nothing to do with her looks. Beehive hairdos make me gag. My defense of her is solely to correct errors you're making. I am a libertarian and am leaning to vote for whoever is on the Libertarian Party ticket this year. Now of Obama and McCain, I am leaning to McCain simply because Obama has NO credentials to be President. None. Zip. This isn't Canada. This is the United States of America. The world's only remaining superpower. A country in active combat in two foreign countries. A country has was recently horrifically attacked by foreign terrorists and still under threat from them. A country that will have to now deal with the resurrected Russian Bear. A country that measures its national economy in the trillions of dollars. A country of roughly a quarter of a billion people. The person I vote for must be up for the job and must have the credentials to show they can do it. I think McCain does and Obama doesn't. Not that I am completely sold on McCain (thus why I am leaning to vote LP), but I am leaning that way and might vote that way if the race is tight. In fact, if I think McCain will definitely win or lose, I will vote LP.
As for my views not being everyone's views on Palin, that goes without saying. However, being an American, I think I have a FAR better read on how Americans view her than you do.
And if she's a joke, then Obama is a complete comedy routine with strippers and clowns. *laugh*
And if you think she won her two terms as mayor (she could serve no more due to term limits) and the governorship on her looks alone, please put down the marijuana joint, open a window, and let in some fresh air.
As for her not writing her speech, what's odd about that? Obama and McCain have speech writers. Hell, Ronald Reagan had speech writers and he was a gifted public speaker. And just because you have a speech writer doesn't mean anything. It is still your decision to give that speech or not. You cannot blame the speech writer for you saying something so you better be sure you fully agree with it before you let it get past your lips.
As for Lieberman coaching Palin, that is another thing that all national candidates have done here in the US. Obama and McCain has whole teams of experts that coach them on all kinds of issues. They run mock debates and interviews with them to try to get them ready. Lieberman is a recognized foreign policy expert so he's a great person to coach her on this topic.
Thanks for your comments, Scott. You are really coming across as needled; your tone is patronising and you appear to be self-projecting, or maybe just exposing your ignorance of other cultures, not everyone takes drugs you know.
Frankly, Scott, it’s none of my business, nor am I interested in whom or what you vote for. You needn’t panic; all you need do is have faith in the ‘Bradley Effect’.
And there you go again, Scott, deflecting topic to Obama away from Palin! Are they both running for the same position? Or are your continual have-a-go at Obama (yes, I get it Scott, he’s not your political ‘cup of tea’) points trying to highlight the experience imbalance between the two, one desiring the top job, one overjoyed at her selection as deputy?
Okay, let’s look at the one with ‘experience’, what she believes in, and what she has accomplished:
Being pro-life, she sees abortion as a crime, even if the victim falls pregnant as a result of incestuous rape, but curiously she’s pro-gun: “Environmentalists have nicknamed Palin the ‘killa from Wasilla’. Her philosophy from our perspective is cut, kill, dig and drill said John Toppenberg, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance”. From: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080905/NEWS15/80905101&imw=Y
She believes in no-sex before marriage, this in the face of “Alaska has the highest per capita incidence of chlamydia in the country, and that the rate of teenage pregnancies across the US, including within her state, has just risen for the first time in 14 years” - from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/06/uselections2008.sarahpalin
Twice she has now publicly claimed that she "told the Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks” re the ‘Bridge to nowhere’, yet evidence shows "she does not mention that she endorsed the bridge when she was a candidate for governor. And the money did not go back to Washington.” So she is being less than candid here. From: http://mediamatters.org/items/200809040019?f=h_latest
As Mayor of Wasilla, Palin found the place with no debt but when she left, she left it with a debt of $20m. That doesn’t sound like she acted frugally to me, especially as her town needed a sewage treatment plant. (This news you’ll find all over the net, if you haven’t heard this repeated over and over already).
She “put” the former Governor of Alaska’s private jet on eBay, she claimed, when she took office, but left enough ambiguity in her convention speech so that McCain proudly proclaimed the falsehood, that this jet was sold on eBay: “she sold it on ebay and she made a profit”, from: http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/09/sarah-palin-did-not-sell-that-jet-on-ebay.php
She is being investigated for abusing her position as Governor of Alaska in a vendetta against an extended family member. From: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-trooper6-2008sep06,0,3632293.story?page=2
She believes that the war on Iraq is God’s war: "Our national leaders are sending them out on a task from God.” On YouTube: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=9H-btXPfhGs–
She sounds like a fundamentalist, no?
Biden’s YouTube clip highlights the problem with last week’s Republican convention speeches: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=P_t_JxFeDpw&feature=related
Republicans ignored the issues (healthcare, education, etc.), rather, they preferred ‘to pit bull’. Rudy Giuliani is a case in point: in his convention speech Giuliani stooped to condescension mocking community leaders. Giuliani has forgotten that he once said: “I respect his (Obama’s ) honesty ….. I think that one of the things we need from our people who are running for office is not this pretense of perfection”. From: http://cameron.blogs.foxnews.com/2007/11/20/rudy-defends-obamas-discussion-of-previous-drug-habits/
As Biden says, the Republicans are the kind of people who would say “Oh I love your dress, was it your mother’s”! :-)
Lastly, just as I am not representative of British Pakistanis, nor do I desire to be their voice, you, Scott do not represent the voice of America. We’ll have to accept we disagree.
Thanks for enlightening me on your views, but they are exactly that. You do not know the mind of all Americans, so stop with that patronising. Americans are split, with real moderates and independents trapped in between. Just like in every other country on this planet.
Bye for now :-)
So your method of correcting my patronizing ways is to do worse back? Let us see here. You've called me easily "needled", "patronizing", self-important, ignorant, panicky, and hoping for racism to defeat Obama. Oh, and also someone that cannot say he understands his countrymen and women better than you, who is not of my country.
I will not reply to the rest of your post since I see now it is pointless. You hate Palin because she isn't your "cup of tea" and thus focus on her faults more than her strengths and achievements.
While your last post sickened me to the point of contemplating removing your blog from my bookmarks, I think I will just not reply to anymore political posts you make and reserve my comments to when you post about artificial intelligence and other non-political topics.
You can have the last reply here. I will not reply again to this post or the other political one.
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