Support NeoGAF

[JCreasy]

you can't really be the president and a good mother to a special needs infant at the same time. There's only enough time in the day.

I think you just revealed the first golden debate question of the day . . .

"Governer Palin, seeing as you are the mother of a special needs infant, how will you properly care for your child, and attend to the country's needs?"

 

[Gaborn]

You gotta admit that if religion wasn't an issue a Biden/Romney debate would most likely go very badly for democrats.

You're probably right. Romney is a SMOOTH fucker, a used car salesman but a GOOD used car salesman.

I never said anything about capping other businesses, as I cannot think of any other business ventures that directly influence everybodies lives.

I asked since I'm not quite sure what coal and iron have to do with a discussion about oil companies revenue.

I'm not a person that is all about black and white, like libertarians and many other supporters of utopian theories are. This world doesn't run on absolutes, so to say that "we cannot do one thing because what about this other thing?!" does not fly. You adapt to the situation at hand.

This is not about an absolute, this is about windfall profit taxes. Why is one company's 8.5% profit margin a "windfall profit" and not another company's 8.5%? Even if Obama himself doesn't start capping other industries like he wants to do with oil companies what is to stop the next president from doing so should he get his way?

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I really think this pick is a disaster.

It clearly is. Any angry Hillary-supporter would only prove their shallow or non-existent concern for the real issues at stake if they went with McCain/Palin just to put a woman in the number two spot. If they really gave a fuck about the issues, they'd have no problem voting for Obama/Biden.

AFAICT, Palin is so completely opposite of Clinton on virtually every important issue that I have to wonder who outside of the rich and insane would be happy about this outcome. So, I really don't see anyone outside of the truly stupid Hillary supporter or GOP plant going any closer to voting Republican.

Of course, the real problem with any McCain ticket isn't so much about who's on the bottom, but that there's a McCain ticket at all. More evidence that Johnny is not in control of anything going on and is simply letting his 'strategists' and corporate-political backers do the driving. Third Bush term is right.

 

[Yaweee]

Yeah, you can't really be the president and a good mother to a special needs infant at the same time. There's only enough time in the day. I decided today that I'm 100% voting for Obama come November.

But you can be a governor, and any other position?

They have paid help. Just because somebody has a child with special needs doesn't mean that the parent has to sacrifice everything else they'd do with their own life.

 

[thekad]

This is so best case scenario, If the Dems want lack of experience to be the number one issue in the election.... Are they trying to lose an "un-losable"election that was theirs yesterday. They need to drop the if McCain dies thing quick!

They don't even have to attack Palin's experience. Put her in front of a camera and ask her what McCain's plan for Iraq is. That should be enough.

 

[JCreasy]

This is so best case scenario, If the Dems want lack of experience to be the number one issue in the election.... Are they trying to lose an "un-losable"election that was theirs yesterday. They need to drop the if McCain dies thing quick!

Are you high?? The man is 72 years old!! It's a REALITY!

 

[Deku]

I think the funniest part of the timing of all this is that the Republicans are spending the news cycle defending the VP pick instead of picking apart Obama's speech.

Don't think they can pick apart that speech in any meaningful way or they'll look petty.

I'm still not sure if this VP pick is good or bad though, for Obama.

 

[duk]

Palin is a very interesting choice however I don't think she is ready to lead the country if something were to happen to McCain hoewever she can reach out to some of Clinton's voters.

This throws out the GOP's experience argument the window against Obama. Very interesting turn of events.

 

[Nicodimas]

Pure Genius!


Well this preety much sealed McCain's Victory and no point in arguing with you all about it. As some sites are saying the next real chance the dems will have now is in 2020.

/shrug


Go NRA!

 

[Rawk Hawk]

So, his base. That's what you're saying.

This is GAF, we all play video games, so we should all get this analogy, but this is like McCain got to an end boss where the opening animation tells you that your guns are useless, and you can only beat the boss with grenades, and he just sat there.

Shooting.

Bases are not going to win this election. Everyone has said that for like months. McCain had an opportunity to court the people actually deciding this election with a pick like Ridge or Romney.

Instead, he exercised extraordinarily poor judgement.

I'm still a FFXI subscriber I know little of final bosses, but that game sounds hard.

I don't think McCain had his base, most core conservatives were not feeling very happy about him to begin with. Would some have voted anyway? Probably. But I think he needs that support to help him, he needs guys (as much as you all probably hate them) like Glen Beck and Sean Hannity actually telling listeners today was a good day. And like it or not, some people listen to Rush Limbaugh, yes he still has a show, and today they were all going nuts over the brilliance of this choice.

Whether you guys agree or not, I think this has done him fairly well today at least. The VP debate will be amusing, and I'm eagerly awaiting that.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

The top of the ticket is what really matters. In no circumstance does the VP choice enhance the ticket, any ticket for that matter, for me, it is either neutral or negative and I would definitely consider the Palin choice negative considering the likeliness of Palin, at some point, taking over a hypothetical McCain administration.

Sure does. And we're watching one of his critical judgement calls unfold. Don't see how in this instance the VP choice isn't impacting the Presidential nominee.

 

[Funky Papa]

Monday gallups should be awesome.

 

[Hitokage]

Pure Genius!


Well this preety much sealed McCain's Victory and no point in arguing with you all about it. As some sites are saying the next real chance the dems will have now is in 2020.

/shrug


Go NRA!

This, gentlemen, is what single-issue voting does to people.

 

[Stinkles]

:lol

 

[PSGames]

Uhm, the experience argument is off the table now with the Palin pick. This is only advantageous to Obama.

One is running for President and the other is not. Pretty big difference there.

 

[The Librarian]

I believe in Harvey Dent Sarah Palin.

 

[Killthee]

Going from extreme opposites, H&C are just as biased as Olbermann. What the hell.. is there a fucking decent news channel? I guess ill go back to TDS/Colbert.

PBS.

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer

 

[CharlieDigital]

This guy's writing is full of gold:

I distinguish liberals from progressives, who can be recognized theoretically by their belief that The Man is as oppressive as ever, and operationally by their low-circulation magazines, their Volvos, and their Third World jewelry. :lol Of course, all liberal ideas started as progressive or downright revolutionary, but liberalism has always sought to reform the system; progressives want to replace it. (The contrast is social as well; I always find it amusing that the uptight, conventional guy in The Return of the Secaucus Seven is the Democrat.) If you want to see which faction each of the attendees at the wine and cheese party belong to, start a discussion on socialism, or on Bill Clinton.

Liberalism has spent the last twenty years under constant attack... which is puzzling, since it has been right in all its principles and has won all its battles.

Government regulation. People flirt with lunatic libertarianism... but the Fed, the FDIC, and the FDA are still in business. Laissez-faire capitalism is great for making a few people rich and the rest of the country miserable; if 1890s America is hazy in your mind, you can see the results today in Russia.

Liberal capitalism-- with government regulation of banks, financial markets, and product safety, and social nets and progressive taxation to prevent excessive concentration of wealth-- is simply the most successful economic system yet invented.

Conservatives feel most comfortable in an aristocracy. But aristocratic nations are poor nations. (The conservatives who realize this don't mind it, because they are or feel they should be part of the elite.)

A luminous exception: Henry Ford, who doubled the wages of his assembly-line workers-- earning the scorn of the 1920s business community. Ford, however, saw the potential of a huge class of consumers rich enough to buy automobiles. Liberal capitalism thrives because a huge middle class, as in the U.S., is a better market than a small wealthy elite, as in Brazil.

So, liberalism has been right in every one of its battles, and conservatives wrong. Shouldn't we then expect liberals to be fêted gurus, and conservatives laughed out of intellectual life, at least till they had apologized for their errors and revamped their philosophy accordingly?

<snip>

I can't do justice to Lind, Lakoff, or Wills in a paragraph or two... and reconciling them would take a long essay in itself. Suffice to say that all three of them are worth reading.

I think Lakoff does an excellent job explaining to liberals how such seemingly disaparate elements as opposition to abortion, support for gun ownership, 'family values', and opposition to pro-family legislation, all fit together into one metaphorical package.

In particular, he's good at explaining why conservatives just don't get worked up about suffering, at least if it's not their own. They're like Calvin's dad: they think suffering builds character. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, son, and if the bleeding hearts really succeeded in making it as safe and nice as a kindergarten, what would become of the manly virtues? :lol

Tellingly, the best research shows that the 'strict father' metaphor actually makes for lousy parenting. The root problem: it produces children with an external conscience-- in other words, people who behave only when other people are watching.

<snip>

The Christian morality play is as unsatisfactory as any of the other binary models; but at least it has the virtue of placing religion, which has been of primary importance in many an American political movement, at center stage. If you're irreligious and know only of the Religious Right, by the way, you're as willfully stupid as those right-wingers who see commies wherever they look. The civil rights movement, for instance, was based in the black churches; it's not an accident that Dr. King was a pastor. And to this day there is a religious left, which would be a natural ally of progressives if they knew where to look.

<snip>

Meet the Rightists

If you look at the rhetoric of the Republicans, you'd think the party is the playground of the fundies and/or libertarians. But the Reps in power don't do what they say they will (thank God). If you look at what they actually do, it's pretty much dictated by what big business thinks will be good for it: free trade, except where foreigners can do things better than us; subsidies for business, reducing taxes on the rich, bailing out failed S&Ls, opposing minor impediments to business like universal health care, unions, and regulation.

The rich control this country; the richest 5% of families own 40% of the national wealth. Its only problem, really, is that to win elections you need not only money but masses of warm (or at least registered) bodies. So they need allies.

<snip>

Fundies have always found something to despise in society; but I think the '60s snapped them out of their complacency. Jazz and cigarettes were bad enough, but for God's sake, these hippies were getting naked, taking drugs, and questioning authority :lol. Riots and bombings, increased crime, and lawsuits against school prayer showed that things were truly spiralling out of control. Feminism seemed like an attack on the way things should be. And above all there was abortion, which was not just perverse but truly evil.

So much gold :lol

A more typical libertarian, I suspect, is one of my recent correspondents, who earnestly explained that prosperity was not based on "brute labor", but on "clever thinking". That's pure Randism; but the guy makes $14,000 a year. What's the story here? Randism seems to be built for billionaires. It's a transparent reponse to socialism: When people are calling for your blood as exploiters, it's mighty comforting to be told that your place at the top of the heap is heroic and even moral.

I suspect Randian rhetoric appeals most to folks like my $14K/year correspondent-- basically, smart whites who have a grudge against the system. They're not doing as well as they'd like, but they're not in enough difficulty that liberals pay them any heed. Rand crystalizes for them their suspicion of socialism and the welfare state, and assures them that their ambition and hard work are the marks of future Nietzschean overlords. There's also a particular pleasure in being contrarian, in not merely opposing but scornfully rejecting the liberal idea that one should resist misery and injustice. It's a miserable and unjust world, baby! We are winners, and damn the losers! :lol :lol :lol Only they're not exactly winning yet. Something must be holding them back. Ah, the government!

Libertarians, like French intellectuals, are also too fond of argumentation so abstract that it has no particular relationship to reality. They like to justify property, for instance, as compact between some undefined primitives at some epoch when it was clear that fencing off land couldn't harm anyone else. This is dubious enough at the theoretical level-- even if it didn't harm the non-owners in 4500 BC, who says it doesn't today?-- but it's criminally absurd as history. Just as a starter, after all, virtually every piece of property in the United States was ultimately stolen from the Indians, who've suffered greatly for it (those who survived the massacres and the relocations and the diseases). Anyone who owns some of that property-- such as myself-- has to come up with some specious bit of special pleading in order to live with themselves; but let's not insult our own intelligence by pretending that the process was completely moral.

:lol

 

[reilo]

This is not about an absolute, this is about windfall profit taxes. Why is one company's 8.5% profit margin a "windfall profit" and not another company's 8.5%? Even if Obama himself doesn't start capping other industries like he wants to do with oil companies what is to stop the next president from doing so should he get his way?

Because the campaign see it as part of investing into new renewable resources with the taxes made off of windfall profits? Many of those taxes gained from windfall profits will be used to research into alternative energy? It's not a new strategy. They're not taxing them just because they see the companies as "evil".

It's a strong-arm tactic to get the oil companies to smarten up. If they consistently make a high profit off of the backs of us, then where is their incentive to move us into a new direction and invest into alternate energy? So far the only companies investing into new fuel consumption methods are car companies.

Once the oil rigs and refineries shut down, where will those hard-hat employees go? There needs to be a transition from traditional fuel resources to new energy, and letting oil companies run amok will only stall things.

We've seen this shit happen too many times already where the little guy gets screwed over.

 

[Juice]

I think you're all overestimating the intelligence of soccer moms.

McCain needed three things at this point, and she can deliver them:

1. Attention
2. Slow Obama from making inroads with women
3. Enough red meat without being an obvious toolbag that the evangelical establishment (Dobson, et. al) would admit they're at least going to vote for him.

Her image will soothe the stupid middle of the country who're worried about how old he is. Her beliefs will soothe the stupid right in this country who just wants someone in the NRA and is 100% pro-life.

There a dozen ways she makes him more vulnerable, but I don't think there was a single candidate the McCain camp vetted that wouldn't have been an extreme disaster.

Really, the house count-gate was a huge boon to Obama in hindsight, because it killed Romney's chances.

 

[reilo]

One is running for President and the other is not. Pretty big difference there.

The other can become president under unforeseen circumstances.

 

[Gaborn]

It's a strong-arm tactic to get the oil companies to smarten up. If they consistently make a high profit off of the backs of us, then where is their incentive to move us into a new direction and invest into alternate energy? So far the only companies investing into new fuel consumption methods are car companies.

The problem is 8.5% is in line with other fortune 500 companies. They're NOT making a high profit, they made a profit about average for a company of their size.

 

[Instigator]

Sure does. And we're watching one of his critical judgement calls unfold. Don't see how in this instance the VP choice isn't impacting the Presidential nominee.

As far as I can remember, I don't think I've ever truly liked a VP candidate. Gore was at best neutral in the Clinton years. I hated all the other ones and I am not crazy about Biden either.

On a sidenote, the Dole ticket was so weak, that I had to use Wikipedia recently just to remember who the hell was the running mate. I can't remember a single thing about this Kemp fellow.

 

[MaizeRage25]

One is running for President and the other is not. Pretty big difference there.

How many heartbeats does McCain have left?

 

[Hitokage]

Fundies have always found something to despise in society; but I think the '60s snapped them out of their complacency.

This wasn't it. It was the IRS cracking down on Bob Jones University for continuing to discriminate against black people while claiming to be a charitable organization. THAT was when they became politically active.

 

[Chris R]

One is running for President and the other is not. Pretty big difference there.

but CANCER AND 72!!!1111

Love how people hate this pick. It a) Solidifies the evangelical/right/pro-lifers and b) Might get some more of the women vote than a McCain/X ticket would have.

Give her a few weeks to grow on people and I'm sure there will be an even bigger divide. People either will think her lack of international experience will hinder her, or they will think that her real life experience in deal with government administration, as well as her other traits and experiences will be a big plus.

 

[reilo]

The problem is 8.5% is in line with other fortune 500 companies. They're NOT making a high profit, they made a profit about average for a company of their size.

Uhm, if you're part of the Fortune 500, then you are making high profit. WTF kind of thinking is that? The Fortune 500 consists of the elite of elites.

 

[Gaborn]

Uhm, if you're part of the Fortune 500, then you are making high profit. WTF kind of thinking is that?

So I ask again, should the other fortune 500 companies be profit capped?

 

[Byakuya769]

This probably deserves it's own thread (pretty insightful and well thought out, IMO and offers a perspective on the Libertarian movement), but I'll post it here anyways.

Warning: it's long as fuck (and filled with some bits of sharp wit here and there):

http://www.zompist.com/libertos.html

Wow, incredible read... only reaffirms my ability to find my self on page with great thinkers I have never read an article from.

"Today's Russia is moving back toward authoritarianism under Putin. Again, this should dismay libertarians: apparently, given a little freedom, many people will demand less. You'd better be careful about setting up that utopia; ten years further on it may be taken over by authoritarians. "

Holy shit, exactly what I said in the "is it fair to tax rich ppl more" thread. Man I need a syndicated column.

 

[AkuMifune]

As a Republican this news makes me giddy. We can play your sneaky minority game too!:lol

Ladies and gentleman, the new VP!

 

[reilo]

So I ask again, should the other fortune 500 companies be profit capped?

Like I said a billion times, no, because the other 500 companies provide optional services. Oil is not an optional service for billions of people in their lives.

 

[pxleyes]

but CANCER AND 72!!!1111

Love how people hate this pick. It a) Solidifies the evangelical/right/pro-lifers and b) Might get less of the women vote than a McCain/X ticket would have.

Give her a few weeks to grow on people and I'm sure there will be an even bigger divide. People either will think her lack of international experience will hinder her, or they will think that her real life experience in deal with government administration, as well as her other traits and experiences will be a big plus.

Fixed that bit for you.

 

[TheKingsCrown]

I think you're all overestimating the intelligence of soccer moms.

McCain needed three things at this point, and she can deliver them:

1. Attention
2. Slow Obama from making inroads with women
3. Enough red meat without being an obvious toolbag that the evangelical establishment (Dobson, et. al) would admit they're at least going to vote for him.

Her image will soothe the stupid middle of the country who're worried about how old he is. Her beliefs will soothe the stupid right in this country who just wants someone in the NRA and is 100% pro-life.

There a dozen ways she makes him more vulnerable, but I don't think there was a single candidate the McCain camp vetted that wouldn't have been an extreme disaster.

Really, the house count-gate was a huge boon to Obama in hindsight, because it killed Romney's chances.

1. Negative attention affects polling though; this isn't like you're selling a product. You're selling a President of the United States of America.
2. Obama needed to make inroads with women? Also, what about the fact that now Hillary is out for absolute blood probably?
3. I'm not sure where you're going with this one. With respect to what else you said, you don't think that Obama and his team won't exploit those vulnerabilities?

Guys, I see it like this, and forgive me for putting this in finance terms, because I"m in finance.

As of yesterday, Mccain's balance sheet:

Assets
Experience Argument against Obama

Liabilities
Mccain Speaking about anything
Mccain's age

As of today, Mccain's balance sheet

Assets
Conservatives ?

Liabilities
Mccain saying anything
Experience argument against his own VP
Mccain's age
Synergies between Mccain's age and experience of his own VP

At first I was like "oh noes Hillary's supporters!", but now I'm like...my god, did Mccain just lose?

 

[Nicodimas]

and she can deliver them:

It was quite intelligent and will deliver exactly where needed. They will be able train someone that has not been corrupted by the senate exactly the way we need. She will also bring a ton of fresh ideas to the country that are needed like less gun control and less reliance on social programs.

 

[Stinkles]

Uhm, if you're part of the Fortune 500, then you are making high profit. WTF kind of thinking is that?

It's irrelevant anyway. Most other Fortune 500 companies are not the number one environmental, geopolitical and economic risk factors in the world.

I believe in the free market - however oil companies are damaging that free market. Capitalism unfettered is doomed to fail. Careful regulation is essential for the functioning of the free market.

 

[MaizeRage25]

As a Republican this news makes me giddy. We can play your sneaky minority game too!:lol

Ladies and gentleman, the new VP!

You should be embarrassed.

 

[laserbeam]

She has answered criticism about having a Baby while being a Government Executive after the birth too.

"It's a sign of the times to be able to do this,” she told the Associated Press. “I can think of so many male candidates who watched families grow while they were in office. There is no reason to believe a woman can’t do it with a growing family. My baby will not be at all or in any sense neglected.”

 

[Gaborn]

Like I said a billion times, no, because the other 500 companies provide optional services. Oil is not an optional service for billions of people in their lives.

And the next President (or the next or the next or the next) may reach a different conclusion because of this. Companies use their profits to expand, to do repairs (especially crucial for oil companies with a large amount of pipes, oil derricks, drills, etc)

 

[Rawk Hawk]

How many heartbeats does McCain have left?

So we should vote for Obama and get a 100% chance on inexperience? I am kind of shocked this has become such a large issue, she is still the VP which means McCain has to kick the bucket, and normal people live much longer lives than 72, and I would assume the President would have pretty good health care coverage.

 

[TrueReligion]

Poor choice, but she's a total MILF. I'd suck her titties and toes.

 

[reilo]

And the next President (or the next or the next or the next) may reach a different conclusion because of this. Companies use their profits to expand, to do repairs (especially crucial for oil companies with a large amount of pipes, oil derricks, drills, etc)

Repairs? Expansions? Wouldn't that fall under your expenses sheet?

So we should vote for Obama and get a 100% chance on inexperience? I am kind of shocked this has become such a large issue, she is still the VP which means McCain has to kick the bucket, and normal people live much longer lives than 72, and I would assume the President would have pretty good health care coverage.

McCain hasn't been the healthiest candidate for office...

 

[MaizeRage25]

So we should vote for Obama and get a 100% chance on inexperience? I am kind of shocked this has become such a large issue, she is still the VP which means McCain has to kick the bucket, and normal people live much longer lives than 72, and I would assume the President would have pretty good health care coverage.

So when voting we should completely ignore the VP candidate?

Hey, why even have VPs?

 

[Stinkles]

Companies use their profits to expand, to do repairs (especially crucial for oil companies with a large amount of pipes, oil derricks, drills, etc)

No they don't. They use operating costs, not profits for maintenance, repair and infrastructure. And:

It's irrelevant anyway. Most other Fortune 500 companies are not the number one environmental, geopolitical and economic risk factors in the world.

I believe in the free market - however oil companies are damaging that free market. Capitalism unfettered is doomed to fail. Careful regulation is essential for the functioning of the free market.

 

[giga]

Vice Presidential Debate: October 2.

1 month away.

 

[reilo]

No they don't. They use operating costs, not profits for maintenance, repair and infrastructure.

Thank you.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Occam's Razor, at least on this issue, clearly dictates that the best explanation of this entire selection was terrible judgement on the part of the people who selected her.

ABC sort of fills in the gaps and indirectly supports that theory:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08/how-palin-came.html

ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg reports: It wasn't until Sunday night that John McCain, after meeting with his four top advisers, finally decided he could not tap independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to be his running mate. One adviser, tasked with taking the temperature of the conservative base, had strongly made the case to McCain that it would be a disaster for the party and that the base would revolt. McCain concluded he could not go that route.

So McCain really wanted Joe as his first pick, and we all know that Joe would have gone along with it. The Rove team told him that was a solid no-go.

The next day, McCain studied the three men at the top of his shortlist: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. All had different strengths and negatives, but McCain was not satisfied. None of them had what McCain believed he needed to do -- and would have done -- with Lieberman.

McCain wanted to shake up the ticket.

Here's McCain calling the shots and clearly doing "his thing". Keep in mind the timeline-the DNC is now underway and that night Michelle was giving her big speech.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's name was in the mix as an unconventional choice for months, but she had not been considered a front-runner. So, over the next few days, with McCain continuing to believe he needed someone who had more of a maverick streak than his other choices, lawyers reviewed her vetting information. They kept their activities from even some in McCain's most senior inner circle.

Never vetted before this week, apparently. Also, the vetters never discussed the issue with the senior staff, which might have have come to the perfectly sensible conclusion that this was a awful, awful idea. Other news is coming out that they met maybe once before this point in DC and talked on the phone while she was at the AK state fair. There's no history or meaningful connection between the two whatsoever, that much is A-grade obvious.

The real important thing to note was that it was McCain himself who seemed to be pushing Palin and setting this ball rolling. It's his own maverick pick. Keep in mind the timeline at this point-Bill and Hillary probably caused him to want to OD on his Ambien by now.

Pawlenty had been the youthful pick advisers believed would represent a fresh direction -- and one they could use to argue the Republican VP pick was more experienced than the Democratic presidential nominee. But Pawlenty's flaw -- what cost him the VP -- was that he would not have stirred things up. He was safe, and McCain was not inclined to take the safe route.

McCain rejected Pawlenty, and it was his staff's clear pick. There was no secret that Pawlenty was the very likely choice for the ticket, but it was McCain who vetoed it, against his advisor's judgement because he insisted that he needed someone who would really "shake things up".

The campaign secretly flew Palin into Dayton last night. She and McCain met privately for a couple of hours. McCain concluded she would "shake up the system" and was "a maverick," qualities he believed Lieberman would have brought to the ticket. But she also would appeal to conservatives -- which Lieberman most certainly would not have done.

After their meeting, McCain concluded he was comfortable with his choice. He notified Pawlenty this morning that he was going in a different direction.

Palin's flight, if I remember right, didn't get in until very early this morning, and Pawlenty got dumped soon thereafter, then the name was leaked on the morning news. And all the while it was McCain's keen decision making that led to this pick.

Knowing this things are sort of more clear as to why she was selected. Joe got rejected, McCain went into MrAngryPOW mode, tossed off the most vetted, likely picks, did a super-secret and terribly rushed and incomplete vetting using only his most trusted advisors ( sort of like his "bunkering down" mentality he did in the primaries before the GE shake-up a few months ago when he brought in RoveCo), rejected all of the picks due to a logic-defying bullshit reason, and picked Palin.

Sort of explains things better to me, knowning some idea what happened on behind the scenes. What a total clusterfuck of arrogance and stupidity.

 

[pxleyes]

Vice Presidential Debate: October 2.

1 month away.

She's got a lot to learn in a month.

 

[CharlieDigital]

Holy shit, he called it, too in his predictions:

We have seen how the 19C pundits were wrong about this century. It wouldn't be fair to close without making some equally imprudent predictions about America in the next century.

* The Republicans will find that they like governing; as a result their anti-government rhetoric will fade away, to be revived only on ceremonial occasions (in much the same way that you only hear "these United States" at political conventions).

* Conservativism will remain, of course; though it will end up implicitly accepting everything that 20C liberalism stood for.

* By the end of the century, racial tensions will have been largely defused; those that remain will be a matter more of class than race. There will still be resentment of whatever group most recently immigrated, however.

* The scientific study of government will make present-day political fights seem like pure foolishness. Once we actually know how to grow an economy, 20C moralisms of all political flavors will sound like leeches and electroshock therapy do today.

* Still no flying cars. Dammit. :lol :lol

 

[typhonsentra]

This guy's writing is full of gold:



So much gold :lol



:lol

Yeah it is.

 

[HolyStar]

I think you just revealed the first golden debate question of the day . . .

"Governer Palin, seeing as you are the mother of a special needs infant, how will you properly care for your child, and attend to the country's needs?"

She will have nannies and nurses take care of the infant also there is the issue of her husband taking care of it. Using her infant as an attack to question her responsiblities as VP is a bad move.