Introducing Miss Congeniality

The heartbeat president · Introducing Miss Congeniality

Here is a 'lighthearted' look at your next president if McCain gets elected. And mark my words, she will be the next president if McCain gets elected.
http://entertainment.msn.com/vide...FbBOvfUiF_IvLsuf4g5&GT1=42003

Guest

OK. Reality check. Does anyone here really - I mean REALLY - believe that Sarah Palin has the experience to lead our country?

Second question. Does she have the experience to lead our city?

OK. That second one was rhetorical, but if you want to answer it...

Duh

Guest

Duh - are you saying that you think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president or to be mayor of Edgewater?

Duh

As qualified as any other person who decides to step up and serve.

Of The People, by The People, for The people.

She is no more, or more less, a representative of who we are than is Obama.

In school I was taught that I could be president one day. What's your name? Given our current state of affairs, I'll vote for you.

Guest

So if qualifications mean nothing in choosing a president, then what criteria di you use in casting your vote?

Walmart Woman

I have a question. Exactly what criteria does Barrack have? Education? Palin has education (and no, not every President graduated from Harvard). Public service? Palin has served on the PTA, Obama on ACORN (hmmm). Public office? Palin has been a council person, Mayor and Govenor (just like Bill Clinton). Executive service? Oops, Palin trumps here. Empty promises? Well, we will give that one to Barack.
As they say, the office makes the person and not the other way around.

Guest

I think WalMart woman and Sarah Palin have a lot in common. They are both so very well spoken. Don't ya' think?

Guest

Oh, my god. How can you compare the two? Obama is a thousands times more more educated and qualified. Palin is certainly not qualified for President. VP? not really. You seem to forget McCain is running for Pres. Not Palin. Think she fogot, too.

Guest

Walmart Woman

It's the Democrats and the liberal press that keep comparing Palin to Obama using the "heartbeat away" argument, not me. Maybe that's because the are trying to ignore the fact that Biden actually believes FDR was President in 1929 and made his Fireside addresses on MSNBC. I doubt that Biden even knows that the "Great Emancipator", Abraham Lincoln, was a Republican. Lets see if old Joe knows what the Pelosi Doctrine is. I wonder what periodicals he reads besides Playboy and Sports Illustrated-Swim Suite Edition. Good pick Barack. Joe "my wifes a babe" Biden is also only a heartbeat away. Hey what's the worse that could happen if Barack dies in office? We would just be back in the Bill Clinton years with a lot off hootchie-kootchie going on in the Oval Office.

from Garrison Keillor

excellent article about Sarah Palin as a candidate

http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2008/10/08/palin/index.html

reader · Garrison's article

Whoever posted the link to the Garrison Keillor article. Thank you.

Guest

The flip side.
http://www.reason.com/news/show/128836.html

Palin defined

This is, in part, from a writer describing her view of Sarah Palin. I find it to be very much in line with mine.

Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States. As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in reptilian villainy, the ultimate cynical masterwork of puppeteers like Karl Rove. But more than that, she is a horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in return for the total surrender of our political power. Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV — and this country is going to eat her up, cheering her every step of the way. All because most Americans no longer have the energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise we call a nation.

Guest

I’ve read the above post several times now and I find it to be very disturbing. If I truly believed that:

Guest · American complacency

It is an excerpt from a Rolling Stone article, and maybe the author took a little poetic license by describing things in those terms. The point, I think, was we are complacent about our politics and that complacency is a threat to our democracy - my interpretation.
Listening to NPR yesterday, American travelers abroad were telling stories of conversations they had had with people from all over the world - even very remote places - and they were astonished by how closely these people were following our election and how much it seemed to matter to them. It would seem the world is watching this election more closely than the majority of America. One has to ask, if the rest of the world is so concerned about this election shouldn't we be paying close attention as well?

JamieMac.

I agree that that particular sentence is a stretch. I look at it like I do an actor portraying a popular personality. The obvious quirks are exaggerated for effect. And the statement about how dumb Sarah Palin is is definitely a stretch. I would not say that she is dumb. Self centered and void of common sense, yes. Mean and decietful, yes. But not dumb. A 'horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in return for the total surrender of our political power', dead on accurate. We have become a star struck nation that admires and holds up as heroes and icons the television personalities that are the most popular or hot at the time. They are the people who guide our choices in what we wear, how we think, and who we elect to lead our nation. The media, although they are the best source we have for information, perpetuate this.
Many of us will take the time to research the facts about the candidates and the issues. But many more will vote based on what they see on television. And Sarah Palin - at least until Tina Fey did her very effective part in swaying this election - was being held up as a serious political leader because - and I stand by this - she is 'hot'. Both men and women swooned over her. Women thinking that here is a strong, attractive woman who can prove something for the rest of us women. And men, well, the age old reason any man swoons over an attractive woman. (Say it ain't so guys)
How many really cared that she was completely unqualified to be the president? How many watched as she, time after time, proved how little she knows about the very country she wants to lead?
...the total surrender of our political power.
I can understand why the writer that was quoted above is angry.
We, as a nation, are allowing our country to be pulled into the pits by our simple complacent attitudes. We turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the uncomfortable changes that are happening before us. It is not in our nature to stand up to our government and let them know when they are screwing up. We accept all that they offer and all that they take away without question.
I am as guilty of this as the next person. And I have no justifiable excuse. I offer a public opinion and hope that I will digest my own words in a way that will move me to work towards a change.
For now, I will vote for the candidates that I believe are the most capable of leading us all towards a better tomorrow. I hope that all of you will at least do your part and vote as well.

Imagine that!!

Well, what do you know?!!! Even her own state knows the truth. McCain and Palin are not the most qualified to lead our country.

Alaska's Largest Newspaper Endorses Obama
By Christopher Weber
Oct 26th 2008 12:44PM

The Anchorage Daily News is excited that one of their own has been tapped for national office, but the editors just don't think Sarah Palin is qualified:

Gov. Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency -- but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. ... despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time.
The paper, the largest in the very conservative state, concludes that Obama brings "far more promise" to the office of the presidency than John McCain.

Not surprised

This is not an unusual phenonemon this election year. There are major newspapers all over the US supporting Obama. The major paper in Chicago has never before supported a Democrat president - until now.
I don't find it odd that Alaskas papers would not endorse Palin. They would know her better than the rest of us.
I know that John McCain is kicking himself for his choice in her. He would have had a much better chance with Lieberman or Romney.
But he is not the brightest Republican in the senate.
I am glad to see that people of all parties are looking past the party and deciding that we need to get serious about our leaders.
Enough joking around. I will be much more comfortable when the other world leaders look at us as a serious country and one to be reckoned with.

Guest

Jami Mac said:

JamieMac. · sexist?

Perhaps it is a sexist statement, but in this case, I stand by what I said.

Guest · Guest at 8:44

Sexist? Elitist?
I think you are a "cliche-ist"
and if you think what JamieMac said was sexist you are a "naive-ist"

JamieMac. · Opinionated, not elitist

Thanks for the support, but if someone else had said it I may have looked at it as sexist. Still , I believe it to be the truth.
Elitist? I don't think so. I do believe everyone has a right to their opinion. My opinion is that most men who support Sarah Palin - and I'm not talking about McCain - do not actually believe that she is capable of being the president.
I do not believe that John McCain thinks she is capable of being president, nor do his staff.
She was certainly not brought on to the ticket because she was a mayor of Wasilla, or because she supported the bridge to Nowhere, or because she put the Governors plane on E-Bay.
I have my opinion as to why McCain brought her on, and my opinion is not that he did it because he believed she could step in as president, or even that she was qualified to be the vice-president. My opinion is that he brought her on because she was an attractive woman and he thought that fact would help his ticket. That is not being elitist, it's being opinionated.
AND, I believe there are a lot of opinionated people voting in this election.

Guest

Oh, I thought you stated it as a fact. Well if we are talking opinion, as a hormone driven male, it is my opinion that Sarah Palin is as much qualified to hold either the office of Vice President or President as any other Govenor. Say the likes of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan or Bill Clinton. Of course they were all hormone driven males like me. But that is just my opinion in this opinion driven campaign.

laura k

I agree completely with Jamie. I think Palin was brought on board for her feminine attributes. You think the populace is that naive? Guess someone thought we were. Let me do some research; I'll get back to you on that. Think the publicists for McCain (maybe an advertising agency) thought geez, if Hiliary got so many votes, maybe if we put a cute woman in, we can swing this election. OOPS!!! What happened to our image? Oh, I know--Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears. Those are real women, huh? For a female role model, give me Hilary any day. GOP party, shame on you. You could have brought in Lieberman or Romney or any number of other females with more substance. My opinion.

And Yes to Obama and Biden.

Patriot

Don’t even get me started on this issue of qualifications. And don’t throw that Harvard degree at me and that Obama was a law professor or Constitutional lawyer when in fact in both cases he was a Senior Lecturer on leave.
If we hold Palin to a standard running as Vice President then we most hold Obama to a higher standard running for President. If Palin is not qualified then neither is Obama. The only difference between the two is executive experience and Palin wins that contest hands down. Obama has aggressively sought the position of President without due vetting and has thrown his friends and associates under the bus when they no longer served his purpose. He has broken his promise to run a publicly financed campaign when he stood to benefit. He has attacked a common man, Joe the Plumber, for asking a simple question. Sarah Palin on the other hand was called to duty and asked to serve her country at great expense to herself. She has been besmirched and ridiculed due to her gender and moral principles and she still hangs in there. She celebrates the common man (middle class) because she is a member of that class.
For me the choice is simple. McCain/Palin for honesty and integrity.

Guest

OMG!!!
Laura, give it up. Sometimes you just have to understand that you can't fix stupid and let it go. You are too smart to even put yourself on the same playing field as 'Patriot'.
Just let the future prove the point.

Patriot

Yes Laura, let the future prove the point. Lower taxes for those middle class people making less than $250,000. Ooops I mean $200, 000. Well actually it should be adjusted down to $150,000 or maybe more like $90,000. You know this week you are really rich if you make more than $42,000, I think.
Listen to Baracks words, don't get caught up in the charisma. Pay attention to his inconsistent message. The future is just around the corner and his world will become yours. I'm not asking you to vote against Obama but I am asking you to look him over with the same critical eye that you looked over Sarah Palin with before you vote.

Introducing Miss Congeniality

Garrison's article

American complacency

sexist?

Guest at 8:44

Opinionated, not elitist