Like you, when I heard that John McCain had selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, I said, “Who?”
As the details emerged over the next couple of hours, I was even more puzzled. Barely two years into statewide office, former mayor of a town of fewer than 7,000 citizens, caribou hunter, hockey mom, commercial fisherwoman, former pageant winner, PTA mother of five.
Had McCain lost his mind?
But, as the hours passed and dusk turned to dawn, other aspects of her life started to surface, and the surprising choice started to become more sensible.
Could Sarah Palin actually be more qualified than say, Barack Obama, to become president, should something tragic happen to the 72-year-old McCain? The comparisons of Palin and Obama started to come into sharper focus.
They both have only one house - although his is a $1.8 million mansion, and hers is a standard family house worth about $160,000.
Let's not pretend these two numbers are directly comparable. Something tells me the same house in Wasilla, AK is not going to be "worth" the same amount as it would be if you transplanted the same house to Chicago, IL. Also, I don't think the McCain camp wants to use the value of one's real estate as a measuring stick by which we determine if one is fit for office.
As a member of the Wasilla City Council, she didn’t vote “present” on any issues, while Obama voted “present” about 160 times while he was a legislator in Illinois. She hasn’t been afraid to take stands on tough issues, then face the consequences on the Main Street of Wasilla the next morning.
Voting present is a symbolic gesture. The end result is not changed. This is a weak argument. Sure, 160 times is a lot, but I don't care. Also, something tells me that Ms. Palin wasn't subjected to votes with the same level of importance when she was on the governing body of her village.
One of her first acts as mayor was to fire the town’s trouble-making police chief. Obama found it heart-wrenching to fire his racism-spewing, hate-mongering pastor.
Pray-tell, what trouble did he make? She also tried to fire the "trouble-making" librarian because she wouldn't let her pull books from the shelves that offended her Christian sensibilities, an act that damn near got her re-called before her first term was up. The official reason for these terminations? Failure to cooperate with the administration. No lie, check it out.
She resigned her post as an Alaskan oil and gas commissioner because she thought her Republican colleagues were too cozy with the executives of oil and gas companies. Obama hasn’t even denounced his self-acclaimed friend, William Ayers, the radical leftist who helped bomb U.S. facilities in the 1960s and who continues to advocate anti-American sentiments.First off, politicians call everyone their "dear, dear friend." If they remember your name and you're a supporter, you're friends. Secondly, if we held every politician accountable for the 40 year-old actions of their political acquaintances, no one would be in office. McCain was a member of the Keating 5 and his father-in-law did business with the mob. Mr. Palin was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a radical secessionist organization. Hell, Sarah Palin even did this video for them.
She campaigned, and won, the governor’s seat in a scrappy fight against a powerful Republican incumbent in her continuing crusade against corruption and unethical practices in Alaska. Obama has rarely even cast a vote against members of his own party.Of course, he authored landmark campaign finance and ethics reforms his first year in office, but that doesn't really fit with your strategy in this column, does it Chuck? Palin's "crusade against corruption" is almost as much of a joke as McCain's. Palin secured $720 million in earmarks for Alaska in her first 20 months as Governor. When she was mayor of Mayberry, she hired a lobbying firm that brought in $27 million in earmarks for her tiny little village. She supported the bridge to nowhere, she was endorsed by indicted Senator Ted Stevens and she even ran his shady 527 PAC. But, I guess it's not like she was a member of the Keating 5 or anything.
She has successfully governed a state with enormous environmental, economic, strategic and corruption issues. Obama has never governed anything; he has simply cast votes, one among hundreds of others who have no accountability for their actions.So, let me get this straight, when Palin was on the Maybery City Council, she showed leadership and earned valuable experience. When Obama was in the Illinois and United States Senate, all he did was cast votes. What did John McCain do in his nearly three decades in Congress?
There is a big difference between someone making daily decisions as an executive, and one among hundreds who voices an opinion.Are these the same "daily decisions" that Mayor Palin made that took the town of Wasilla from being almost completely debt free to being tens of millions of dollars in debt? That caused a village to build a multi-million dollar ice-skating rink when they didn't have sewer or storm water treatment? Or to break ground on said ice-skatin rink before you even had the deed to the property, resulting in millions of dollars in legal fees to fight litigation?
Palin has said “no” to hundreds of millions in federal handouts to Alaska; Obama has never turned away federal money and advocates spending billions and billions more.See above. This isn't even just flawed logic, it's an outright lie. I'll tell myself that Mr. Green is just a lazy journalist and not a partisan hack promoting something he knows to be untrue.
Palin has governed a state that borders the former Soviet Union and Canada. Obama has served in the legislature of a state that borders Iowa.LOL. If I wasn't so jaded, I'd be outraged by this statement. But I just can't help but laugh. Where do I begin. First, Alaska does not share a border with Russia, and hasn't for, you know, eons. Back during the days of Pangea, it probably shared a border with Africa too, does that make Palin uniquely qualified to solve the AIDS crisis?
Second, the Soviet Union no longer exists. Could you guys try a little bit harder to prove you haven't gotten over the Cold War mindset.
Also, to be fair, Illinois also borders Indiana and Wisconsin. And Canada is practically on the other side of Lake Michigan (OK, it isn't really, there's that pesky Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but if Alaska can be said to border the
Even if this argument mattered, I say we elect baseball player Curt Schilling President. He's from Alaska, and he won a baseball game with his Achilles tendon exposed. One word: hero.
Palin has been to the Middle East and has a son in the Army who will be deployed to Iraq next week. Obama visited Iraq for two days a few weeks ago.See Biden, Joe. Next.
Palin has governed a state twice the size of France, with rave reviews; Obama has governed nothing.WTF? Since when was the total acreage of your state a determining factor in your competency and ability to govern. Perhaps we should elect Vladmir Putin to be head of the UN. I mean, Russia is the biggest country in the world, so he
Chew on this, Alaska has about 760,000 people. The greater Kansas City metro-area has about 1.9 million people.
Palin has worked the last couple of years on the job, earning her salary as governor. Obama has spent the last couple of years collecting a salary as U.S. senator, but spending most of his job running for the Democrat nomination for the presidency.Again, not a fight John McCain wants to start. His attendance record is even worse than Obama's.
Palin’s spouse has spent his life working the hard tasks of an Alaskan commercial fisherman and oil pipeline supervisor; Obama’s spouse has worked as a hospital public-relations executive earning more than $200,000 a year.How is a spouse's income/employment relevant? I don't begrudge John McCain for marrying hot rich girls, I just pray for Cindy's sake she doesn't get in a car accident.
The Obama's worked hard, they got a good education and they made themselves some money. Sure they were the least rich of all 50 people running for President from both parties, but let's paint them to be rich elitists anyway (says the man who married into a beer-distribution fortune worth nearly $100 million)
Palin has made the agonizing life-and-death decision over whether to abort a Down Syndrome baby and now faces the challenge of helping her 17-year-old daughter through a pregnancy; the Obamas have the blessings of two healthy, beautiful daughters with the difficult years still ahead of them.I'll let Samantha Bee answer this one.
The contrasts go on and on, and in each instance Obama seems to be on the short end of experience and tough decisions.You're right, they know who she is, and know she isn't fit to be Vice President.
America is no longer asking, “Sarah Who?”
Email Chuck at chuckgreencolo@msn.com and let him know you're tired of people spreading lies.
2 comments:
Nice work debunking all of those lies!
LOL...here's my e-mail exchange so far with Mr. Green:
Me: A friend forwarded me an e-mail apparently written by you, but it's filled with lies, distortions, and half-truths. Why do you lie so much? Do you enjoy lying to strangers? Does it make you feel good when simple-minded people buy into your stories hook, line, and sinker? You should be ashamed of the lies that you're perpetuating.
Chuck: I like to respond to my e-mail. I'd like to respond to you. However, you don't refer to any single article -- you apparently have read only one, so you can't possibly be referring to all my work -- and you fail to refer to a single lie, as you put it.
In other words, your message is meaningless. I only can assume that you are too cowardly or insecure to back up your generalities with any specifics.
You certainly are an upstanding person -- full of inventive, hate and anger. Your life must be very serene.
Me: I didn't realize that you've passed yourself off as a legitimate reporter--I thought that you were just some crank who wrote an e-mail full of lies and distortions. The e-mail to which I'm referring is your "article" about Barack Obama. You start by comparing Obama and Palin's houses, which is just plain silly. You go on to attempt to compare being mayor of a village with being a state senator in one of the largest states in the Union. You then brought up the spurrilous topics of Obama's Reverend and William Ayers, which have nothing to do with this years' election. You then made the false claim that Palin fought against corruption in Alaska, but there's evidence that she is even more corrupt than the bush administration. You make the claim that, "she has successfully governed a state with enormous environmental, economic, strategic, and corruption issues" but you neglect to mention that she's had less than two years on the job governing a state with less citizens than a typical large American city. You claim that "there's a big difference between someone making daily decisions as an executive, and one among hundereds who voices an opinion" but what does that say about John McCain? You wrote that Palin hundreds of millions in federal handouts, but that's a lie. She took those funds and she hired lobbyists to get more. You say that Palin has been to the Middle East and has a son in the Army, but you neglect to mention that it was her very first trip abroad and that she only recently got a passport. I could go on, but I'm sure that you get the picture. When Americans finally get to see and hear from Sarah Palin they'll know that she's not qualified to be governor of Alaska, much less the Vice President of the United States.
Also, here's a free vocublary lesson: the word that you were looking for is "invective" not inventive...but who am I to give lessons to such an esteemed writer???
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