On September 3rd, Republican VP candidate and current Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave a very impressive acceptance speech. She seemed strong, bright, poised, and confident.
Her speech seemed to fire up the audience. Lots of applause. Standing ovations. And, based on interviews by the television reporters on the convention floor, Palin even seemed to win over some moderate pro-choice Republican women. It was that easy.
But that was just one speech, and it was written to strategically touch on talking points that would win points with the audience, and ignore others.
And the points they chose to ignore could make all the difference in voters' minds.
Here are just a few:
Governor Palin told us that she had "stood up to the ... big oil companies." She did not tell us that she had strongly supported Big Oil's efforts to drill in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. And she did not tell us that she had opposed listing polar bears as an endangered species because doing so would pose a "significant threat to [oil and gas] development."
Governor Palin told us that she had "championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress." She did not tell us that she herself had taken advantage of a whole lot of federal earmark spending. According to the Washington Post, "Palin helped secure almost $27 million in projects for her tiny hometown of Wasilla, Alaska."
Governor Palin said that she had told Congress "thanks, but no thanks" for the Bridge to Nowhere. She did not tell us that she had supported the bridge before she opposed it. In other words, she flip-flopped.
Governor Palin told us that Barack Obama "has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform -- not even in the state senate." She did not tell us that Obama, along with Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), authored S. 2566, which passed in 2007, to keep weapons out of the hands of terrorists. She did not tell us that Obama, along with Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), authored the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, to require full disclosure of all entities and organizations receiving Federal funds. And she did not tell us that, this year alone, Obama sponsored many more Senate bills than his opponent, John McCain -- 70 to 22.
Governor Palin told us that Barack Obama wants to raise taxes. She did not tell us that Obama would actually cut taxes for over 95% of American families. Those who would have to pay more taxes under an Obama administration are the richest handful of Americans who are currently enjoying Bush's tax breaks for the very wealthy -- tax breaks that Obama would stop so that the rich will have to pay their fair share just as you and I do.
Governor Palin told us that Barack Obama "wants to forfeit" a victory in Iraq. She did not recognize that you cannot win an occupation (as was so astutely noted on a sign held by Iraq war veteran Adam Kokesh the following night at the RNC).
Governor Palin told us, "This world of threats and dangers is not just a community, and it doesn't just need an organizer." What she is missing is the fact that the world community fared better when the U.S. did serve as its organizer. America's role in the world community changed for the worst when George W. Bush adopted his unilateral cowboy-style foreign policy. And, rather than make us safer, the Bush-McCain war policy has actually fueled an increased terrorist threat.
And while it seems obvious that McCain chose Palin as his running mate in an attempt to win over disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters, Governor Palin did not mention her extremist views that are pretty much the opposite of Senator Clinton's views on women's issues. She did not tell us, for instance, that she opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest.
Finally, while the right wing may criticize Barack Obama's former ties to Pastor Jeremiah Wright, Governor Palin did not mention the fact that her own church recently heard a sermon professing that terrorist attacks on Israel amount to divine judgment on Jews for refusing to accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior.
So, when all these things are considered, this election would seem like a shoo-in for the Democrats, right?
Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with which she may be associated.
Something else we can expect Sarah Palin not to acknowledge
is that the idea of exporting our political system at the point of a gun is something that is supported by Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and others. However, as Sen. James Webb (D-VA) brilliantly pointed out in his book A Time for Fighting, Leon Trotsky had the idea before they did.
by
John Sanchez Jr. (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 1266 comments)
on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 11:49:56 AM
Vote ignorance, the antielite, is the credo of the Republic
Comment from Ratings: Simple symbolism, nasty catch phrases, and out right lying is the basis of the Republican attack machine. Literally nothing they say seems to be the truth. Crass disregard for the truth. It is one thing to distort through half truths, which is past Republican stratagy, but these people just outright lie.
by
Kyle Samuels (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 11:28:30 PM
For fun my wife and I watched the Obama, McCain, and Palin bios on both CNN (Clearly a Democrat supporting network) and Fox News (Clearly a Republican supporting network) to see the slant and hopefully get something out of both.
I'm now more interested in what was not said.
Nothing on Biden, not a word, Why?
OK, Big Media (BM), something stinks!
Even more telling was how much we know about Palin in a week and how little we still know about Obama.
So, who really is this guy, Obama?
What was Obama really doing in New York and why did he really leave.
There is a big cloud of secrecy over this part of his life.
He remembers a lot from California and his alleged speech on race there at Occidental.
Anyone else ever hear it?
I don’t think this hate whitey attitude started until he was in New York and then promoted in Chicago under his radical hate whitey pastor.
Obama remembers his admitted druggie friends in Southern California they even work on his campaign.
He now says he doesn’t remember anyone in New York?
Why will the people he knew in New York not talk to the press?
Have they been paid well to keep quite?
To be honest the time in New York sounds very fishy.
No home, living on the streets, while admittedly on drugs.
Was he possibly dealing drugs to live?
He said nothing about a job, but he has great sales experience and learning how to talk to strangers is a must have skill learned while dealing drugs.
He did have a close Pakistani friend in New York and that is where the Afghan heroin is funneled through to the rest of the world.
What name did he really use in New York when he was going to all the bars?
Wait just a second, he said he lived like a monk in New York during his programmed speech to the big media, studying all the time.
Then on stage unscripted he boosted about all the bars he went too while living in New York.
Who bought the drinks and drugs?
Did he really graduate from college? Has anyone seen his transcripts?
Why would anyone with a degree from such a prestigious college as Columbia have a hard time getting a job anywhere?
He could not possibly believe that we would fall for the idea that such a desperate level of discrimination existed, that with that level of education, the best job he could find was as a community organizer?
He said sent out a number of resumes… and “community organizer” at $10,000 per year in Chicago was the only offer?
This BS bio has just left me with too many questions.
No one at his age 40, writes two biographies unless they are attempting to rewrite their own history to cover up his real history.
There are way too many holes in this resume.
I WANT A FULL FBI TYPE BACK GROUND CHECK!
I want to know who his friends, friends were in New York, if his friends will not talk maybe they will.
I know Harvard will accept people without checking under graduate degrees, because they offered me to attend their business graduate school before I had even finished my under graduate degree.
I attended a number of colleges without presenting a degree or transcripts.
In the early 80’s it was not hard to come up with fake transcripts even if they were required and even into the late 90’s people could buy a degree.
Does anyone remember this “stand out guy” at Columbia?
They remember him everywhere else.
I’m not saying he is not smart and people cannot change when given a chance, but he needs to come clean.
I know judges that were ex-criminals; they used it to promote themselves.
I was almost a high school dropout but I graduated.
I then graduated at the top of my military schools while I was learning to fly.
In college my GPA was 3.92.
This was from a kid kicked out of two high schools for bad behavior.
Obama needs to come clean, because I if can see right through his story others will too.
CHANGE, in his bio, WE CAN BELIEVE IN;
He flunked out of college due to drug use. OK, it happens.
He then went to New York where he partied and did more drugs, possibly dealing drugs while living on the streets. I don’t know how well this is going to be accepted.
He finally need to get a job and moved to Chicago’s south side where a guy with even half a college degree would stand out.
He had girl friends and one of them convinced him to quit doing drugs and attend church her. I don’t believe for a second he quit doing drugs or went to christian church on his own. That is just BS.
He truly believed in the hate whitey speech of his pastor and saw it as a platform to pull him up from the streets due to his black heritage.
He had no interest in race bating before this, and he never gave a speech on race in California. That was clearly an unnecessary false claim. He already has the black vote and trying to play like he was some kind of MLK during the race riots in LA is just sad.
Let’s see, as community organizer Obama was there to help poor people get help when they lived in substandard housing. He leaves that $10,000 per year job in Chicago to attend Harvard (Not cheap) and returns to work as a lawyer for a Chicago slum lord which he is on first name bases with and helps him buy his $2,000,000 house at almost a quarter less than its real value. Later when his slum lord buddy is in trouble with the law he gives him $100,000 allegedly for one sixth of the property next door.
Was the lot even zoned for this type of sale?
Now Obama claims he only did six hours of legal work for a guy he is on a first name bases with? All of my attorneys call me Mr. Gallaher.
Yea, OK, I’m fooled.
We know so little about this guy, Obama.
I’m sure he is way dirtier than Clinton, Nixon, or any other dirt bag that has made it into Office.
by
Gallaher (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 761 comments)
on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 3:02:25 PM
What military school did you attend, Mr. Gallaher? And what college provided your 3.92 cumulative GPA? You're a pilot? Which means you've passed the FAA ground school/flight exams, of course. Columbia U's not a bad institution of higher learning according to U.S. News & World Report, and Harvard law's one of the best in the country. Obama taught at the U of Chicago law school, also one of the best in the U.S. I sub taught at the U of C's lab school and know a bit about the place. Did a staffing study of the U of C's Regenstein Library. Could your GPA possibly be the result of rampant grade inflation over the last 3 decades? Your narrative sounds like something right out of the Posse Comitatus. Can you say Lyndon Larouche? It's the lying, fear-mongering like you write that's got the U.S. where it is today.
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Larry Retzack (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 30 comments)
on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 3:43:56 PM
Obama has no credibility. He has never ran anything, he has never really been in congress because the whole time he has been campaigning for the presidency. So how did this person with no experience at anything other then running his mouth, get in the position that he is in? Can we say George Soros? He has slipped about being a muslim while claiming to be a christian. I'm sorry, but this guy is a ghost when it comes to politics. His history is shadey at best. How can a person vote for someone with no backround? If you read either of his books, he admits his father is 85% Arabic and a Muslim. He admits to attending Muslim school in Kenya. We learned much more about Sarah Palin in 4 days, then we have ever learned about Obama. I don't care about his drug use, I care about how he feels about American and the American way of life.
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Jay Timmins (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 103 comments)
on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 10:06:06 PM
Do americans really want Palin to be one melanoma away from the presidency? She seems to be even more of a Bush clone than McCain. I just can't imagine any more time with these right wing idiots. How horrible.
by
jenifoto (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4 comments)
on Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at 5:09:39 PM
11 comments
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