What Experience Does Sarah Palin Have in National Security?
What experience does [Sarah Palin] have in the field of national security?
McCain is asked the question by a reporter at WCSH in Portland Maine. His answer?
"Energy. She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America."
No wonder they have to keep the media talking about lipstick on pigs.
Watch McCain stumble through the answer (and the full interview), AFTER THE JUMP...
Here's the full, embarrassing interview, including an end bit on gay marriage:
And, sadly, there are millons who will vote for this dumb and dumber ticket.
Posted by: Sebastian | Sep 12, 2008 9:40:03 AM
After last night's interview folks should be asking not about experience but about her knowledge. Palin's an idiot, and McCain isn't much brighter.
Posted by: MAJeff | Sep 12, 2008 9:42:12 AM
There are going to be a lot of bitter gays when McCain/Palin win in Novemeber. I was going to vote for Obama/Biden but McCain/Palin is so far ahead in Georgia that Obama is pulling out his staff from the state. So what's the point in me even going to the polls.
Posted by: Matt | Sep 12, 2008 9:42:36 AM
The answerto your question? The same amount as Barack Obama.
Regardless of who you want to win, going after Palin for experience when Obama is just as inexperienced is dumb politics. But she's a woman, so I guess holding her to a different standard as Obama is ok, eh?
As a gay progressive, it pisses me off to no end when other gay men are so goddamn sexist. It's embarrassing, and counter-productive.
Posted by: dk | Sep 12, 2008 9:50:47 AM
A first-term Governor of an isolated, lightly populated state has as much experience as a US Senator? News to me.
Posted by: D.R.H. | Sep 12, 2008 10:00:34 AM
Um... We've HAD an "energy president" (and an energy vice president, for that matter) for the last 8 years... How's that workin' for ya??
Posted by: otterpop | Sep 12, 2008 10:03:13 AM
It's so funny. When I first started reading this blog years ago I was so conservative. I could have cared less about gay rights. All I cared about was the money in my wallet. Now granted, I'm no Arianna Huffington now but civil rights are important and can be granted without damaging people's wallets.
I still think we don't need higher taxes that the government still waste way to much money. I guess that part of my conservativeness will never change.
Posted by: Matt | Sep 12, 2008 10:05:38 AM
You know what I think is sexist? The idea that hard-hitting questions and high expectations are somehow unfair for Gov. Palin, but are appropriate for Sen. Biden. These people are running for the second-highest executive position in our country, and should be held to the same standard. That standard, by the way, SHOULD be exceedingly high. If Palin doesn't meet it, it's not because it was sexist to expect that from her.
Posted by: The Milkman | Sep 12, 2008 10:08:19 AM
Obama's ability to answer serious and important questions exceeds not only a flyspeck like Palin but an "experienced" politician like John McCain, who's fuckling CLUELESS when it gets to details of actual policy. He can mouth Repuiblican memes from here to the moon, but he's a dumb as a bag of rocks.
Is it "sexist" to mention McCain's abject stupidity?
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Sep 12, 2008 10:08:22 AM
WOW! The paid shills are not only here, they are practicing "advanced psych-out shilling". No "gay progressive" who hadn't sustained brain damage from too many hours watchin Fox would suggest that critiques of Palin's inexperience are somehow sexist. Guess what? We'd be saying the same thing if Palin were a man from Alaska with a similar resume. Being governor of Alaska is like being Montgomery County commissioner in Maryland. It has fewer people, and generally fewer issues, than a large semi-urban county in the CONUS. (well, actually, it has issues, but the state government obviously isn't dealing with them! It leads the states in rape, and is 2nd in domestic murder) Obama's stint as state senator representing the 3rd largest American city in a state senate, and Senator from Illinois, did a better job exposing him to the issues that really matter to most Americans. Most Americans don't have the option of getting another $1000 back from oil industry royalties, for example.
Posted by: St. Theresa of Avila | Sep 12, 2008 10:11:29 AM
Wow! What a difference! I listened to Barack on Letterman, and he was articulate, educated and sharp. His points, his examples were clear and precise, and he was warm and endearing. He fielded "ouch" questions with diplomacy and ease.
Listening to both Palin and McCain, they have no clue how to talk outside what ever bubble they float around in. Not confident, unable to field tough questions, very lackluster examples and thoughtful insight to back up their replies.
These are basic communication skills I am talking about. If you know your stuff, you should be able to speak passionately about it. Neither McCain or Palin seem to know their stuff. If it's not a scripted talking point, they are thrown completely off guard.
Also, did anyone try and figure out what Morris Code message McCain was trying to send with his blinking eyes? Was he responding to Carl Rove's brain implant with "HELP ME! I'M SCREWED!"?
Posted by: Rad | Sep 12, 2008 10:20:02 AM
DK, you cannot be serious. Sarah Palin is NOT the mother that disowned you. Licking her clit wont bring your mommy back, mmmkay.
Posted by: Jason | Sep 12, 2008 10:30:08 AM
"But she's a woman, so I guess holding her to a different standard as Obama is ok, eh?"
No one is holding her to a different standard. If anything, people are giving her a break for fear of being labeled sexist. Even a Republican commentator on NPR said that her lack of familiarity with foreign affairs and issues of national security was obvious in her interview and demonstrated that she is unqualified to be VP. This isn't her fault. She wasn't running for the office, so there's no reason why she should be as informed as Obama, who has been preparing himself for years to run for president. The fault lies with McCain, who passed over several more qualified but less conservative women because they wouldn't energize the fundamentalists. Now the country is finally getting to see the hollow core of the McCain campaign.
Matt, you vote because it's your right and duty as an American citizen. As for taxes, unless you're filthy rich, your taxes will likely be lower with an Obama presidency.
Posted by: Ernie | Sep 12, 2008 10:48:16 AM
The AP tears into mccain
The same Associated Press headed up by Ron Fournier who almost went to work for mccain and said to Karl Rove "Keep up the fight."
mccain's loosing the pro mccain AP means the fat lady is warming up to sing the curtains down.
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/12/
895/20646/79/594884
3 ap articles tear into mccain and palin
- "straight talk express" has detoured into doublespeak
-Palin tries to defend qualifications in interview (and the AP points out how she fails)
-they bring up the book burning thing and point out what it is all about
mccain has lost Karl Rove loving Ron Fournier who almost worked for him.
:-)
-
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Sep 12, 2008 10:59:37 AM
PS
New Obama commercial brings up the issue of age. Released this morning, it shows mccain from the 80's with a rubiks cube, those big old time cell phones, etc and mentions mccain's own admission this year that he doesn't know how to use the internet or send e-mail. Its not 1982. ;-) Great hit by the Obama team. We need a leader who understands the basics of the modern world/ modern tech
-------------
Watch SNL tomorrow night. the season premier with Michael Phelps and......OBAMA. Obama will be on the season premier of SNL tomorrow.
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Sep 12, 2008 11:03:24 AM
He speaks as if Palin is running for the president not himself.
Posted by: Justin | Sep 12, 2008 11:05:19 AM
Palin's hesitancy to answer the question was clearly because she didn't know what the hell the "Bush Doctrine" was. The media should not have a hard time ripping her apart once they get access to her, which is why McCain's campaign has very carefully controlled media access up to this point.
If Democrats and Obama just keep their heads, Palin will self destruct without any help from the left.
Posted by: Andrew K | Sep 12, 2008 11:11:48 AM
"...it pisses me off to no end when other gay men are so goddamn sexist. It's embarrassing, and counter-productive."
Does it piss you off when a successful woman is sexist against other women? When she has contempt for the very movement which allowed her ungrateful ass to become a governor. She is a female Pat Buchanan...but not as ugly as his sister.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Sep 12, 2008 11:14:31 AM
Ernie,
Why should those filthy rich people pay more in taxes? I mean they already pay the vast majority in taxes anyway. I mean if we are going for equality shouldn't everyone pay the same percentage in taxes? Isn't that what the flat tax does?
Posted by: Matt | Sep 12, 2008 11:17:00 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/12/
obama-ad-goes-after-mccai_n_125896.html
The new ad from obama hitting mccain on age and incompetence. Mccain admited this year that he doesn't know how to use the internet or send e-mail.
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Sep 12, 2008 11:44:18 AM
MATT, that's what a flat tax does, but there is no comparing a person making 20K a year and someone making 2 million. It sounds fair, but it isn't, because that tax may put one below the poverty line, but not the other.
Posted by: David T | Sep 12, 2008 12:03:56 PM
Matt, if I were filthy rich, I'd be happy to pay more taxes. I don't support the flat tax because it wouldn't be equal. Poor people pay more for food, for healthcare, for everything. Rich people have all kinds of economic advantages that poor people don't have access to. But, since taxes aren't a first priority when I'm in the voting booth and that's not the topic of this thread, I'm not interested in debating the flat tax. I was merely pointing out that it's not a given that middle-class people will pay more taxes under Obama. And I believe that people who don't bother to vote basically lose their right to complain about anything.
Posted by: Ernie | Sep 12, 2008 12:08:18 PM
Indipendent agencies reviewing Obama's tax plan show that 80% of america would get a tax cut.
ENOUGH!
repubs lie
Matt is either deluded by the lies or lying himself.
You all know this. repubs lie.
ENOUGH
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Sep 12, 2008 12:32:30 PM
I'm voting for Obama/Biden because a vote for Mc Cain/Palin is a vote to support the GOP's plans to legislatively gang-rape the LGBT community. And if Mc Cain were really the GOP maverick he's publicly lying about being, he'd be against U.S. government-sponsored torture, a lot more supportive of American scientific advancement instead of supporting the intelligent design fraud, and openly tell the Christian fundies controlling the GOP to stop acting like the American version of the Taliban.
Posted by: Peter | Sep 12, 2008 12:43:01 PM
God, sometimes I amazed at how stupid people can be. Gay Republican who only care about the money in their pocket and not Civil Rights for gays and others? What does that say?
It says that those gays either live in progressive, Democratic controlled areas where liberals worked their asses off to get laws in to place so that openly gay Rethugs could be parasites and live off the hard work of others. Or, it says that the Gay Republicans in question are closeted and get by on white male privilege but live a nanosecond away from being discovered and seeing their lives ruined.
In either case, gay Republicans come off as slime bag parasites.
Fuck this Palin shit! Look at what the hell has happened to the United States in the last 8 years and what's happening today!
The Imperial Presidency? Where the hell was that party of the Conservative platform for smaller government that does not interfere with personal life?
Torture? Gee, I thought that was something that the Commies, like the Soviets and Chinese, did. Sorta like having secret prisons and people disappeared off the streets.
Economy? Wake up! Some economists are terrified that we will slip into a Depression because of the Bush economic disaster:
--Socialism for Billionaires. Under Bush, hundreds of billions of taxpayer funds are being used to bailout private businesses, allowing CEOs to walk away with multi-million dollar payouts.
--The auto industry wants a $50 billion bailout with no strings attached.
--The airline industry wants billions also.
Censorship? Hello! Anyone home? Palin tried to fire her local librarian who refused to pull books from the local library shelf. Wasn't there that whole thing about purges, reeducation camps, and Cultural Revolutions in the Communist countries where artists were persecuted and "unpopular" art was banned or destroyed?
Silly me! I thought the U.S. Constitution meant something more than being a piece of paper to be ignored.
Market-based economy? Why the hell is it okay to dump hundreds of billions of dollars into failed businesses but not okay to spend a sliver of that on health care or education?
Where the hell is the love for the market?
Rugged individualism my ass! This is all about power, greed, and hypocrisy. If a middle class or poor person needs government assistant, he/she is a dead beat loser who can't make it on his/her own. A billionaire in that position is heroic figure. Bullsh@t!
Watching the Palin defenders makes me nauseous. Republicans burst a blood vessel denying that racism, sexism, or homophobia exist until such time as it benefits them. Poor Sarah, someone criticized her; they must be sexist! Crock of shit!
Where were these Republicans when McCain called a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton ugly? Where were they when for 20 years the Rethugs tossed sexist crap about Hillary Clinton being a bitch, a lesbian, etc.? Oh, that right! Those same Rethugs were ones spewing that crap just a month ago!
Weren't these the same Rethugs who decried Affirmative Action for women and minorities? As if they can say with a straight face that Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, or Clarence Thomas are not the poster children for Affirmative Action gone bad.
Party of Lincoln? Give it up! Lincoln fought for the survival of the Union. Palin and her goofball husband were connected for almost a decade with the secessionist Alaska Independence Party.
To the guy in Georgia, get off your cowardly ass and fight! If your dumb enough to sit on your butt come election day, you might as well find a nice bridge and jump off. Don't you get it? This election will determine the fate of the Supreme Court. The rich, closet case gays can hide. Can you? What about local elections in your state?
Thank God that Martin Luthher King and African-Americans had more guts and brains than the likes of you. Thank God Harvey Milk and other gays had more strength and heart than you. Thank God Gloria Steinem and the rest of the feminist had fierceness and conviction than you.
Dumb asses! This is about your future!
This is about the future of every gay, lesbian, or trans kid who gets the shit kicked out of him for being "different"!
This is about the survival of the U.S. Get your heads out of your asses, wallets, etc. Global Warming is real. Russia is a real threat. China is huge economic competitor for dominance. Hell, al Qaeda and its ilk are alive and kicking.
Do you people not understand that there is a global food and energy crisis? What the hell do you think will happen when energy continues to become more expensive and the networks that transport food become more expensive to utilize?
The McCain/Palin ticket don't give a f-ck about gays. Both have made it clear that they don't believe in ENDA or civil unions.
I wonder if this is how the biblical Noah felt when he knew that there was a disaster coming but the majority of people were too stupid, corrupt, cowardly, or lazy to do anything???
Posted by: noah | Sep 12, 2008 12:51:56 PM