Sarah Defined

[H2O Man]

"Sara, Sara
Whatever made you want to change your mind
Sara, Sara
So easy to look at, so hard to define." – Bob Dylan; Sara; from Desire.

As we approach the vice presidential debate later this week, I find it interesting to read some of the growing number of news articles that question if Sarah Palin is qualified to serve in national office. Below are parts of three articles that I think DUers may enjoy.

{1} Miami Herald; 9-28-08

If Palin were a Male Candidate …. (Carl Hiaasen)

…..Most journalists are still getting accustomed to the Sarah Rules, as established and enforced by John McCain's campaign team. The most important is Sarah Rule No. 1: Don't treat Gov. Palin like a male candidate, or you'll be accused of character assassination.

Maybe this is why McCain has kept Palin sequestered from the press -- not because he's terrified she'll pull a Dan Quayle and say something goofy (as she did to Katie Couric), but because he gallantly wants to protect her from all the chauvinist meanies who would ask impertinent questions. ….

If Palin were a male candidate, for example, she would again be asked (as Charles Gibson did) why she took credit for killing Alaska's notorious Bridge to Nowhere, when in fact she supported the $223 million boondoggle until Congress turned against it.

If Palin were a male candidate, she might also be encouraged to discuss why she chose a high-school pal to head Alaska's Division of Agriculture at a $95,000 salary. Among her flimsy qualifications, the woman, a former real-estate agent, claimed an affection of cows.

If Palin were a male candidate, she'd be asked why she put another childhood friend in charge of a money-losing, state-subsidized creamery that was supposed to shut down until Palin reversed the decision. As The Wall Street Journal reported, the doomed dairy cost Alaskans more than $800,000 in additional losses before it was finally closed. ….

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/carl-hiaasen/story/703133.html


{2} PoliGazette; 9-27-08

Republicans Worry: Palin’s A Problem (Michael van der Galien)

Increasingly more conservative republicans are starting to worry that Governor Sarah Palin, the party’s candidate for vice president, is hurting her party more than helping it. …

….this election is not going to be decided by the base alone; McCain will have to win over independent voters if he wants to beat Obama.

In that regard, Palin may very well do more damage than good.

Every time that Palin has agreed to give an interview on television she has come across as uninformed, uninterested, and generally not ready for any national office, let alone second in rank.

The above has caused several conservative commentators to call on Palin to drop out. …

http://poligazette.com/2008/09/27/republicans-worry-palins-a-problem/

{3} Washington Post; 9-23-08

Palin on Thin Ice (Ruth Marcus)

…..The way she answers questions brings to mind -- I have Alaska on the brain, admittedly -- the image of a polar bear, jumping from rhetorical ice floe to ice floe, drifting some but eventually managing to get safely to dry land. No flubs, but you get the sense that she could plunge into the icy water at any moment. Palin has an odd tendency to use the same word twice in a sentence, as in, "The people of American realize that inherently all political power is inherent in the people," or, about John McCain, "He can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this." Or, combining word repetition with another Palin verbal tic, word dropping, this about the economic meltdown: "Well, you know, first Fannie and Freddie, different because quasi-government agencies there where government had to step in because the adverse impact all across our nation, especially with homeowners, is just too impacting."

Ok, not everyone is Daniel Webster. ….Yet I always got the sense listening to George W. Bush tying himself up in rhetorical knots that his problem was more in the nature of getting the words to come out of his mouth correctly, not so much that he didn’t know what to say. Palin -- I’m not so sure ….

Consider this exchange.
Hannity: What is our role as a country as it relates to national security?
Palin: Yes. That's a great question, and being an optimist I see our role in the world as one of being a force for good, and one of being the leader of the world when it comes to the values that -- it seems that just human kind embraces the values that -- encompass life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that's just -- not just in America, that is in our world.
And America is in a position because we care for so many people to be able to lead and to be able to have a strong diplomacy and a strong military also at the same time to defend not only our freedoms, but to help these rising smaller democratic countries that are just -- you know, they're putting themselves on the map right now, and they're going to be looking to America as that leader.
We being used as a force for good is how I see our country.
Whew. Made it to the other side of that one.

Can’t wait for the debate. I bet it will be impacting.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/palin_on_thin_ice.html

[Betsy Ross]

1. Someone should ask Palin what "Fannie Mae"

and Freddie Mac stand for. Do you think she actually knows that they are nicknames?

typo on edit.

[H2O Man]

4. I'd like to hear

her asked questions about her thoughts about her proposed option for a war with Russia. Perhaps she should share her ideas about exactly how such a conflict would be fought, its goals, and exactly how far she would suggest the US go in enforcing her policy.

[satyr9us]

7. I'd still like to see someone ask for clarification

about what the hell she meant, in that Charlie Gibson interview, in asserting that Russia invaded a "NATO ally". Yes, she used precisely that term, and pretty forthrightly at that. Yes, she was talking about Georgia.

Thing is: Georgia is not, and never has been, a "NATO ally".

A basic primer's available to all, right here on the interweb: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO

NATO is nothing more or less than an alliance-- so a member is an ally and an ally is a member; pre-requisites for membership are strict; and the agreement is binding-- when a NATO member is attacked, the participation of every member in the group response is mandatory; when a non-NATO member is attacked, well... there's a reason this club is exclusive. Georgia did apply for membership, but received a round rejection, because there was that little stipulation about all candidate states having secure, established, recognized borders-- which, if you'll recall, was exactly the basis of Georgia's eventual flare-up with Russia in the mountains of Ossetia.

Question is: Does Gov. Palin fail to grasp the nature of NATO? Or does she fail to grasp the basic narrative of Georgia's failed application for membership? Or is she banking on basic American credulity? Some combination of all three?

Biden's got great credibility talking about Georgia. Let's see him take the good Governor to school.

[rzemanfl]

2. Sara was Dylan's wife. That was a painful song for him to

write. It is a shame to use it for a political point.

[H2O Man]

3. I am aware

of what the song was about. Considering how old it is, and that he is unlikely to see this thread, I think that it'll be okay.

[rzemanfl]

5. Well, now we can see if Dylan posts at DU. It is a shame that

Caribou Barbie's parents didn't have the Palin name generator. I doubt if anyone wrote a song about a girl named "Mullet Troll"(Sara) or "Claw Washout" (Sarah).

[kiranon]

6. Believe Palin has a learning disorder - processing and storage/retrieval

Have posted before that Sarah sounds like my daughter who is very smart but has a learning disorder. Words/ideas go in but they come out scrambled no matter how hard she tries. Her memory is also affected in that her storage and retrieval areas are also disorganized. No matter how much they prepare Sarah, it won't matter. That is why the First Dude is near her as she plays Governor in Alaska. He can interpret/speak for her. Sarah's speech pattern/sound is very similar to my daughter's also. My daughter is charming but you would never want her to be the VP or the President. I could imagine an oops moment with the nuclear button or a misunderstanding of the situation or misspeaking when perfect clarity is needed. The closest thing I can think of is filling a bottle with words, shaking it and throwing the words out on the table and reading them as they fall.

[Cha]

8. Thank you, H20 Man..

That's a great take on it by Carl Haaisen. "If Palin were a male".

The mccain campaign is so sexist.