Palin pick an insult to our intelligence

[LowlyPion]

What does the size of the population of Alaska have to do with the amount of energy that is produced in Alaska and consumed in all of the states?

There is no particular meaning of course in regards to her misrepresentation of the statistics overstating Alaska's contribution to US energy. And in that sense I guess I am guilty of adding the additional demurrer to her qualifications a bit gratuitously, but that doesn't make the point any the less invalid.

What the statement does speak to, however, is the competence of Palin herself, as to necessarily having any experience with alternative energy, when she lives in a state that is an energy net producer over the state's needs for the extended future.

Her misrepresentations and attempt at self aggrandization I'd say pretty much speaks for itself.

 

[LowlyPion]

Hope the debates don't get into mere attacks on how we got into this mess rather than how is the best way to get out.

Given that McCain and his career long dedication to deregulating the financial companies, and earlier involvement in the Savings and Loan melt down (remember the Keating 5), and now the sub-prime mess, and the current failures of the mortgage markets and the ripple through to banks - I'd say his role in the current economic mess is inescapable. The idea that he would now be put in charge of the henhouse looks a bit like the wrong idea. To this extent, I hope McCain is held publicly accountable in whatever forum he rises to speak that he has solutions for the economy.

 

[ramsey2879]

Given that McCain and his career long dedication to deregulating the financial companies, and earlier involvement in the Savings and Loan melt down (remember the Keating 5), and now the sub-prime mess, and the current failures of the mortgage markets and the ripple through to banks - I'd say his role in the current economic mess is inescapable. The idea that he would now be put in charge of the henhouse looks a bit like the wrong idea. To this extent, I hope McCain is held publicly accountable in whatever forum he rises to speak that he has solutions for the economy.

Yes I agree that whether a candidates own policies contributed to the current economy mess should be touched upon in the debates also.

 

[Evo]

More people starting to say the defense of Palin is an insult to the American people.

GOP senator: A 'stretch' to say Palin is qualified

WASHINGTON - Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said his party's vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, lacks foreign policy experience and called it a "stretch" to say she's qualified to be president.

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview published Thursday by the Omaha World-Herald. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

Could Palin lead the country if GOP presidential nominee John McCain could not?

"I think it's a stretch to, in any way, to say that she's got the experience to be president of the United States," Hagel said.

McCain and other Republicans have defended Palin's qualifications, citing Alaska's proximity to Russia. Palin told ABC News, "They're our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

Hagel took issue with that argument. "I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_el_pr/hagel_palin

 

[Astronuc]

Hooray for Hagel! A voice of reason.

I'd rather have Hagel as a GOP nominee of P or VP.

Palin, like any US citizen of her age, does of course meet the minimum criteria for eligibility.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I think the notion that Palin got her Passport in 2006 is frightening! She knows nothing of the world but from the media and reading?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I think the notion that Palin got her Passport in 2006 is frightening! She knows nothing of the world but from the media and reading?

I'll be heading to Aruba in Feb. I'll fill you in on US-Aruba relations when I get back.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I'll be heading to Aruba in Feb. I'll fill you in on US-Aruba relations when I get back.

Hey maybe you'll learn a bit about the Dutch legal system while you are there :)

 

[LowlyPion]

I think the notion that Palin got her Passport in 2006 is frightening! She knows nothing of the world but from the media and reading?

That's not fair. Surely she saw Russia from that island in Nowhere at a much earlier age.

 

[turbo]

Hooray for Hagel! A voice of reason.

I'd rather have Hagel as a GOP nominee of P or VP.

Palin, like any US citizen of her age, does of course meet the minimum criteria for eligibility.

I wish Obama had reached across the aisle and tapped Hagel for VP. Biden is OK, but choosing Hagel would have sent a message to the Independents that the two-party system doesn't have this country in a vise.

 

[mheslep]

Not that it is without precedent: Truman didn't get his first passport until after he left office.
McCullough:
http://books.google.com/books?id=8f...&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA1127,M1

 

[Evo]

Not that it is without precedent: Truman didn't get his first passport until after he left office.
McCullough:
http://books.google.com/books?id=8f...&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA1127,M1

It's pretty much unheard of this century.

Is he the most recent example you could find?

 

[mheslep]

It's pretty much unheard of this century.

Is he the most recent example you could find?

Didn't look, just happened to know about Truman from McCullough.

I don't understand why she hasn't already done some of the standard 'Governor junkets'; all the Gov's go abroad on rah-rah-invest-in-my-state trips whether it is useful or not. Or has she? Right now I thought her overseas was limited to Iraq to visit the Ak Guard units there (and Canada).

 

[turbo]

Didn't look, just happened to know about Truman from McCullough.

I don't understand why she hasn't already done some of the standard 'Governor junkets'; all the Gov's go abroad on rah-rah-invest-in-my-state trips whether it is useful or not. Or has she? Right now I thought her overseas was limited to Iraq to visit the Ak Guard units there (and Canada).

She says that she went to Iraq, but the commander at the Kuwaiti base she visited said that her permissions did not allow her to enter Iraq. She visited troops in Germany and Kuwait and her plane refueled in Ireland (a country which she also had claimed to have visited). That's a LOT of foreign policy experience. (sure)

 

[Astronuc]

Not that it is without precedent: Truman didn't get his first passport until after he left office.
McCullough:
http://books.google.com/books?id=8f...&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA1127,M1

However -

Truman was chosen to be an officer, and then battery commander in an artillery regiment in France. His unit was Battery D, 129th Field Artillery, 60th Brigade, 35th Infantry Division, known for its discipline problems. During a sudden attack by the Germans in the Vosges Mountains, the battery started to disperse; Truman ordered them back into position using profanities that he had "learned while working on the Santa Fe railroad." Shocked by the outburst, his men reassembled and followed him to safety. Under Captain Truman's command in France, the battery did not lose a single man. The war was a transformative experience that brought out Truman's leadership qualities; he later rose to the rank of Colonel in the National Guard, and his war record made possible his later political career in Missouri.

Well, I'm sure Truman didn't spent a lot of time getting to know French politics, but he did serve in combat, and I believe he did travel abroad as President, e.g. to the Potsdam conference where he met with Churchill and Stalin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman#World_War_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam_Conference

Truman was a Wilsonian internationalist who supported the UN.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman#First_term_.281945.E2.80.931949.29

Palin is very parochial and it appears that she knows little outside of Alaska, except possibly how to get earmarks from Washington.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

It's pretty much unheard of this century.

This century means Clinton and Bush. What were their experiences abroad before becoming President?

 

[LowlyPion]

Not that it is without precedent: Truman didn't get his first passport until after he left office.
McCullough:
http://books.google.com/books?id=8f...&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA1127,M1

Sarah Palin is no Harry Truman.

It's an insult to even compare the two. She is a total lightweight.

Truman didn't need one during World War I as an artillery officer. They had expedited entry through French Customs for US Army Personnel in those days. As President he got a similar expedited treatment at Potsdam and other travels.

Between World War I and II was the Great Depression and not a lot of opportunity for him to travel abroad.

Palin has no excuses except total inexperience.

Oh, on a clear day she could see Russia. That must be it.

 

[Astronuc]

This century means Clinton and Bush. What were their experiences abroad before becoming President?

Clinton was a Rhodes scholar and attened University College, Oxford (UK) where he studied Government.

As for GHWBush, as a US representative and director of the CIA, I believe he did travel overseas. In World War II, he was shot down in the Pacific.

As for the son, whether or not he traveled abroad probably didn't make a difference.

 

[LowlyPion]

What I don't get is why Palin supporters still cling to the fiction that she has ANY foreign policy experience. The excuses are so terribly contrived to try and keep the fiction alive.

Face it. She has NONE. People that watch the Travel Channel likely know more about foreign policy than she has been exposed to.

Face it. She would be a National Liability in Foreign affairs.

Focus on her other areas of expertise ... whatever those might be.

 

[Astronuc]

It's pretty much unheard of this century.

Actually, the majority of Americans do not possesses a passport. I heard a statistic some time ago that only about 22% of Americans had passports, and many did not travel abroad except to Canada, Mexico, or to non-US entities in the Caribbean.

 

[Evo]

Actually, the majority of Americans do not possesses a passport. I heard a statistic some time ago that only about 22% of Americans had passports, and many did not travel abroad except to Canada, Mexico, or to non-US entities in the Caribbean.

I was referring to someone running for executive office, due to the reference to Truman.

And "this century" sounds impressive.

 

[mheslep]

However - Well, I'm sure Truman didn't spent a lot of time getting to know French politics, but he did serve in combat, and I believe he did travel abroad as President, e.g. to the Potsdam conference where he met with Churchill and Stalin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman#World_War_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam_Conference

I didn't intend a broad comparison w/ Truman, just his foreign travel. Sure he went abroad after gaining national office. He went all the way to Guam to see MacArthur, etc, but he did not go abroad prior to holding office other than w/ the military in France.

 

[LowlyPion]

... but he did not go abroad prior to holding office other than w/ the military in France.

You mean the time he spent in France - maybe almost as long as Palin has had a passport?

 

[turbo]

I like how some of her foreign-policy expertise arises from the fact that from some remote barren desolate island at the tip of the Aleutian chain, you might be able to glimpse the remote barren desolate coast of Kamchatka. Of course, all of Russia is just like that, so you can learn a lot by looking across the sea.

 

[Evo]

From my backyard I can see the moon.

 

[turbo]

From my backyard I can see the moon.

Please remember that the main reason that the Russians have not invaded Alaska in the last year and a half is that they are scared of Sarah. After all, she can shoot a moose.

 

[LowlyPion]

From my backyard I can see the moon.

You will be qualified to head up NASA then if the McCain Palin ticket should get elected.

Submit this with your resume. That should do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g8b1WuNifQ

 

[Evo]

You will be qualified to head up NASA then if the McCain Palin ticket should get elected.

WOOHOO! And to think all I had to do was tell someone I could see it and it made me an expert!

Reporter: Evo, what qualifies you to head NASA?

Evo: From my backyard, I can see the moon, the sun, the planets and the stars.

Submit this with your resume. That should do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g8b1WuNifQ

 

[LowlyPion]

WOOHOO! And to think all I had to do was tell someone I could see it and it made me an expert!

Reporter: Evo, what qualifies you to head NASA?

Evo: From my backyard, I can see the moon, the sun, the planets and the stars.

Tell them you have a tanning bed and are an expert on the Sun too.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Please remember that the main reason that the Russians have not invaded Alaska in the last year and a half is that they are scared of Sarah. After all, she can shoot a moose.

The Ruskies would be interested in anyone that can shoot moose and squirrel.

 

[Evo]

The Ruskies would be interested in anyone that can shoot moose and squirrel.

I should know by now not to read anything you post with a full mouth.

 

[LowlyPion]

Palin now STONEWALLING on Troopergate subpoenas:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26742379/

First Dude to refuse to testify, as well as all of the Governor's staff. The strategy is to throw it past the election.

Stonewalling must be a litmus test for Republicans.

 

[Evo]

I don't understand how the "first dude" goes on "official" State of Alaska business trips for his wife. There is a question as to if he even graduated from high school. It seems there is very little known about him other than he worked on the North Shore oil fields and races dog sleds.

It seems he also traveled as a "gift" from companies that are seeking state permissions, but of course these companies state that it has nothing to do with trying to influence the Governor.

The companies that paid for the flights, a normal means of travel to remote and often roadless parts of Alaska, are both in the early stages of a lengthy approval process. Barrick Gold Corp. spent $805 flying Todd Palin in September 2007 to Donlin Creek, where it hopes to build an open-pit gold mine on Native-owned land. The company hasn’t submitted any permit applications yet.

An environmental consultant for the project, William Jeffress, also donated $1,000 to Gov. Sarah Palin’s gubernatorial campaign. A company representative said that donation has little relevance in a process that requires hundreds of permits from federal and state authorities.

“It’s hard to image what influence any governor would really have … other than wanting to be kept informed,” said Greg Johnson, a vice president for NovaGold Resources Inc., Barrick’s partner in the project.

A month after the first visit, Todd Palin toured the Red Dog Mine, a lead and zinc operation in the northwestern part of the state. The $200 trip, which he took with Alaska’s labor commissioner, was paid for by Teck Cominco Alaska Inc. and included a stop at a technical training center. That company is currently seeking permission to mine a new deposit, which would extend the life of the mine to 2031.

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/516787.html

Nepotism, cronyism, favortism...

 

[LowlyPion]

And now comes the Zapatero Flap.

Spain is located in South America?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDjZsFUwrJI

Maybe it's McCain that is the insult to intelligence?

 

[Evo]

And now comes the Zapatero Flap.

Spain is located in South America?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDjZsFUwrJI

Maybe it's McCain that is the insult to intelligence?

Reporter: If elected, would you be willing to invite President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to the White House to meet with you?

McCain: That's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region

Reporter: What about you? I am talking about the President of Spain

McCain: What about the what?

Buwahaha