Thursday, September 4, 2008

Sarah Palin a Pitbull Wearing Lipstick


Last night’s speech by Sarah Palin was completely unremarkable and full of arrogance. Her speech was delivered with snide sarcasm, and behind the “ah shucks, I’m from small town America” façade, she has lived up to her persona as a “pit bull with lipstick”. What surprises me is the lavish praise coming from the mainstream media (MSM) when she has yet to demonstrate any remarkable skill other than being able to give a speech written by some speechwriter filled with sarcasm and disrespect.

She is not a novice to campaigning, and she has given speeches in the past. Furthermore, she was speaking to the Republican base, if she hadn’t been able to preach to the choir, I would have found that scenario remarkable. I am in disbelief in how low the bar has been set for Sarah Palin. She has not yet proved her qualification to be Vice President. Again, this is not about experience. From the very beginning, my concerns for Palin has not been about experience, but her qualification, in addition to the judgment McCain displays in even picking Palin as a candidate.

Yesterday, there was breaking news that US troops had gone over the border into Pakistan to deal with outbreaks in violence spilling into Afghanistan. VP Dick Cheney was immediately sent over to assess the situation. We are living in a complex world, with serious international issues. Palin is simply NOT qualified to face dictators or world leaders to deal with these complex issues.
In regards to the rest of her speech, it was completely devoid of any real solutions or preview for what the McCain & Palin ticket stands for, other than the usual hate-filled rhetoric typical of the Republican Party. In fact the entire night was full of divisive partisan rhetoric, only the continued demonization of the “angry left” and fear-mongering speeches that McCain has offered in the past. They hope to prey on the “9/11” fear of Americans to get people to vote for them.

The entire speech was laughable and full of hypocrisy, in that she continued to state the false facts about her being the great reformer, and hinted that that any questions about her record can only be categorized as a witch hunt by the Media. The fact is Alaska ranks as the #1 state for all pork barrel projects, and that she hired lobbyists to garner even more funding for her state of Alaska. This is a state swimming in oil tax revenues with a significantly smaller population than that of other states, which could truly use the money for investment in their people. In addition, she had 3 projects that were highlighted by McCain as examples of wasteful government spending. So ironically, the very wasteful spending that McCain rails against, she has been an eager advocate for in the past. In addition, despite the party and the show that the Republicans put on, Palin still faces investigation by her State Legislature for abuse of powers. She’s shown that the way to govern is to be vindictive and take actions to suit her desires, not the will of the people.

She also demonstrated yet again the inability of the Republican party to understand the difficult economic issues faced within the US, as she disparaged the work of “community organizers”.
“Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.”
Unlike empty promises and the inability of the Republican Party to meet head on the challenges of dealing with destruction in the wake of natural disaster of Katrina, these “community organizers” are the ones hard at work rebuilding homes. Community Organizers are the ground troops in America directly dealing with the problems that everyday Americans face, providing “Meals on Wheels” to the elderly, they are the “Big Brothers and Big Sisters” who help inner city children, they are the ones giving hope to those who have none.
“But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.”

Sarah Palin, who has not contributed to a single meaningful progress in the State of Alaska, other than selling the governor’s plane on ebay, was downright ignorant in her failure to recognize the true impact and help to low income families that Obama was able to help with his Tax Credit legislature during his time in the State Senate. Or the fact that Obama brought attention and resolution to bring care of veterans as part of the Senate Foreign Arms Committee, something McCain has yet to do. He has worked with Dick Luger to bring about true campaign reform, and not just the superficial act of reform.

So while Republicans only talk about caring for Americans, Democrats actually make a difference in the lives of many Americans.

Her attempt to dismiss Obama as not being tough on terror was offensive and quite frankly un-American. This is a FACT, not opinion.
“Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay ... he wants to meet them without preconditions. Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights?”

Essentially Palin and the Republicans mock the Democrats as being too weak on terror, just because we insist on respecting human rights. They are implying that Democrats, and Obama in particular would compromise the safety of Americans, in other words, they are accusing Obama of treason.

We are a nation of laws, the US Constitution, the democratic principles for which America stands for, along with the Geneva Convention clearly require us to renounce TORTURE, and make it plain that this is not acceptable. Improper search and seizure, and rendition without judicial process goes against the very principles upon which our nation and the founding fathers built.

McCain, who was a POW as he likes to remind us, should KNOW BETTER.

Either we are a nation of laws or we are not. We have NO moral leg to stand on to reprimand China or Russia, when we do not set the example.

Again this idea of “Victory” in Iraq is a mirage. Victory is not about saying “US is #1” and how we defeated the Iraqis. Furthermore, Palin and McCain CLEARLY have not discussed this supposed victory with General Petraeus, who would be the LAST person to say that it is in sight. Success in Iraq means cleaning up the mess that we made. It’s about leaving a stable country with infrastructure, water, electricity, security, and an economy in progress. The destruction and instability we brought about in Iraq has led to increased growth in the terrorist organizations. We are LESS SAFE because of the disastrous policy of the Bush and Cheney neo-con policies.

The bottom line is that McCain and Palin are campaigning not on their own qualities or principles, but on the basis of dividing America, and getting voters to fear the other candidates. Although they attempt to bring people down to the lowest common denominator, and campaign on negative and racist themes, their lack of understanding of the urgent economic problems facing America, and inability to demonstrate the judgment and integrity that Americans are looking for in the next President and Vice President of the United States, will only eventually lead to their failure on election day.

The Republican Party has had control of the White House for the past 8 years, and control of Congress for 6 out of the past 8 years, their leadership has led to the problems and issues we face today. Simply put, John McCain and Sarah Palin do not represent any sort of change, but the continued failed policies of the Bush Administration. Sarah Palin, I hope has enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame. She is an empty politician, with zero substance.

Time and time again, I can only contrast their empty, meaningless, angry rhetoric with the hope and understanding that Obama brings to the table regarding the future of America. On the day that Gustav threatened the Gulf Coast, while McCain was eagerly looking for photo opportunities to politicize the natural disaster for his political gain, these are the words that Obama had to say:

"That spirit of looking out for one another, that core value that says I am my brothers’ keeper, I am my sister’s keeper, that spirit is most evident during times of great tragedy, it’s most evident during times of great hardship, it’s most evident when natural disasters strike because we understand that only God has control and so it takes it out of the realm of politics. We all understand that we have to come together. "


"But that spirit can’t just be restricted to moments of great catastrophe. Because as I stand here today and look out at the thousands of folks who have gathered here today, I know that there’s some folks that are going through their own quiet storms."

"All across America there are quiet storms taking place. There are lives of quiet desperation. People who need just a little bit of help. Because if there’s a poor child out there, that’s my child. If there’s a senior that’s having trouble, that’s my grandparent. If there’s a guy who’s lost his job, that’s my brother. If there’s a woman out there without healthcare, that’s my sister. Those are the values that built this country. Those are the values we are fighting for."



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