The Palin Gamble

It's true of both Obama and Palin: Karl Rove's comment that Palin is a political choice, not a governing choice. It's equally true of Obama. Both have a compelling life story; but [ neither of them are in any] sense ready to assume the presidency.
Except, Obama is at the top of the ticket. Both are risky. While I also have all the mentioned qualms about Palin, (even though I am a conservative, pro-life Mom of three) I can't help but realize that Obama is equally flawed as a governing choice, despite his Ivy League education.

Sarah Palin has more executive experience than Biden, Obama and McCain put together. The Presidents job is decision making. None of the above was ever under the gun on a daily basis to do so. Being a mayor (however smal the town) and a governor is 24 hr. decision making. Her history of taking on her own party and bringing corruption to an end in Alaska is amazing to say nothing negotiating the gas pipeline finally to a reality and during the time she was preparing her speech she was deploying the Alaska National Guard to the South. This woman is amazing. Obama has written two books about himself and voed present on most of the legislation before him.

\Great article! I voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries. Say no more I'm a convert of Barack Obama. He has my vote. You can also count on me to participate in voter registrations, any activities to help win this election.

People...even if we take the experience argument off the table, we are left with a senile old man, who yes, has served his country, but can't keep facts straight in his own muddled mind, a vp nominee that spent 6 years at 5 different colleges to get a bachelors degree and 3 days after giving birth to a special needs child, went back to work????? Or an intelligent & extremely articulate man who was editor of Harvard's Law review and is able to keep facts straight and make intelligent decisions regarding the direction of this country and his vp has more than a grasp of facts & policy!!!! If people in this country aren't smart enough to see the chasm of difference between the two.....then god help us!!!!

.
[1.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #1: THE "WE DON'T KNOW HIM" LIES
After 19-months on the campaign trail, detractors of Senator Obama (mainly GOP constituents), claim they "still don't know Obama" well enough to make an informed decision as to how they should vote. But within 48-hours of Sarah Palin's introduction to the GOP, Obama's critics suddenly knew everything there was to know about Sarah Palin. How is it that the religious-right cannot know Obama after he endured 18-months of brutal media scrutiny, but suddenly 'know' Palin within 2-days of popping up on the national stage and without one public interview?

.
[2.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #2: THE "EXPERIENCE" LIES
After Senator Obama spent 19-months running a campaign that has totaled $350-million; and after 3 ½ years in the Senate negotiating legislations for the nation and for his 12.8-million Illinois constituents; and after 8-years in Illinois State Senate fighting for the middle-class; and after 3 ½ more years fighting as a community activist and organizer; it is genuinely hypocritical for McCain to pound Obama on the experience factor, and then turn around and install Sarah Palin with NO national and foreign experience, to be a single heartbeat from Commander-in-Chief of the United States. This is a GARGANTUAN HYPOCRISY and a RECKLESS decision that puts the nation at risk just so McCain can win the presidency.

.
[3.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #3: THE "CHANGE" LIES
Up until last week, McCain's campaign has been on "EXPERIENCE", while Obama's mantra has always been on CHANGE. After watching the DNC performance, McCain 'blinked' and changed his campaign to run on the same mantra as Obama's which is CHANGE. This is after McCain accused Obama of saying anything to win!!

.
[4.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #4: THE "APPEASEMENT" LIES
Bush and McCain accused Obama of wanting to "appease" Iran so they would stop their nuclear program. Obama blasted back and said McCain and Bush hold hawkish views and poor judgment, and their refusal to open diplomatic channels with Iran amounts to failed international policies. Ironically, Bush followed Obama's strategy and began backdoor talks with Iran. As it has turned out, neither Bush nor McCain are calling their own talks with Iran "appeasement", or given Obama credit for what Americans wanted the Bush-McCain leadership to try prior to military exercises. And by the way, Bush and McCain supported 'appeasements' to North Korea in exchange for shutting down their nukes. Again, how ironic, appeasement was the very thing Bush / McCain hypocrites accused Obama.

.
[5.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #5: THE "TAX CUT" LIES
McCain accused Obama of trying to raise taxes. But Obama has continually advocated tax cuts for the middle-class with annual salaries of less than $250,000.00, which is about 98% of the population. However, McCain doesn't tell the public his health insurance plan is going to effectively raise taxes for all Americans that have health insurance, while making permanent tax cuts for the riches upper 2% of Americans.

.
[6.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #6: THE "BRIDGE TO NOWHERE" LIES
Sarah Palin claimed on several occasions that she turned down $350-million of federal government earmarks for the "bridge to nowhere". But what actually happened is Sarah campaigned to get the money for the "bridge to nowhere", then flip-flopped after McCain voted the bridge down when she won the Governor's office. Ironically, Alaska still got the 'bridge to nowhere' funds but it was used instead to build a "highway to nowhere".

.
[7.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #7: THE "PLANE SALE ON EBAY" LIES
Sarah Palin insinuated she sold state plane on EBay for a profit, and more recently McCain repeated it as a fact that the plane was actually sold on EBay for a profit. That lie has now been debunked, and the good Christian Sarah Palin has no shame that she was caught in another lie. The plane could not sell on EBay so it was taken down and sold "privately for a lost".

.
[8.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #8: THE "ABSTINENCE-ONLY" LIES
Sarah Palin as an Ultra Extreme Religious-Right advocate uses her State office bully-pulpit to knock down public school sex-education, while plugging her "abstinence-only" religious views to public schools. Ironically, her 17-year old daughter Bristol fails to practice the "abstinence before marriage" views her mother is trying to push in Alaska schools. Then Sarah tries to hide it with another lie by telling the school where Bristol attends that her daughter must drop out because she has Mono. Sarah continued to hold fast to the Mono lie until rumors break loose just after her VP announcement. It was only then the "abstinence-only" hypocrite came clean.

.
[9.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #9: THE "TROOPER-GATE" LIES
Sarah Palin claimed she never called the State Trooper Magistrate to have her ex-brother-in-law fired. Soon after investigators got on the seen, emails were retrieved to dispute that fact, and now all seven of Sarah's state appointees have refused to testify. It has been learned that more than 20+ plus calls were made to the State Trooper Magistrate regarding the firing of Sarah's brother-in-law, and because the seven witnesses have 'lawyered-up', the investigators must use subpoenas to get the seven that initially volunteered to testify to give an account of what happened.

.
[10.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #10: THE "POLITICS BEFORE COUNTRY" LIES
McCain and Rove accused Obama of picking Virginia Governor Tim Kane as VP for political expediency, and also because Tim Kane would bring a southern state into the Democratic "Win Column". Instead Obama went for Senator Joe Biden to sure up the leadership ticket for the White House. McCain assuming it would be an Obama-Kane ticket, wrongly accused Obama of putting politics ahead of country. Well McCain and Rove got busted. The whole world (except blinded Religious-Right) witnessed McCain picking the least qualified Republican to be his VP in hopes of: (1.) stealing Hillary's voters from Obama; (2.) pleasing James Dobson's religious-right. Clearly a hypocritical VP pick by McCain for the "sole purpose of political ambitions", is now on record for the world???s eternal observation.

.
[11.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #11: THE "SADDLEBACK CONE-OF-SILENCE" CHEATER-LIES
It was McCain's responsibility to be in Pastor Rick Warren's "Cone of Silence" before Senator Obama got the first question. McCain was not in the cone-of-silence. Therefore McCain cheated. The issue is not whether McCain heard any of the questions posed to Obama, the issue is that cheating did occur when McCain did not follow the rules to be where he was suppose to be, at the time he was suppose to be there.

.
[12.]
"McCAIN / PALIN / GOP" HYPOCRISY #12: THE "IRAQ TIMETABLE" LIES
Senator Obama was consistent in his call for a responsible U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq under an agreed timetable. McCain and Bush said "absolutely" no timetables and anything like timetables was tantamount to "cut-and-run". It was Bush and McCain's desire to stay in Iraq indefinitely. Only after Obama took McCain's challenge and went to Iraq & Afghanistan, and secured an informal agreement to pull U.S. troops out by 2010, did Bush and McCain changed there views to accept timetables. Now Bush and McCain don't call timetables cut-and-run any longer.

McCain has turned this election into a soap opera about Sarah Palin and her family. Is this what we need to be talking about during these critical times when people are losing their jobs, their homes, and soldiers are losing their lives? Why is it that we are forced to deal with a hockey mom and her problems that can fill the National Enquirer ten times over? McCain clearly has contempt for the electoral process and the American people deserve so much more.

Con't -

Parents, side note for you, Military recruiters are very slick and will use every trick in the book to get you (mom and dad) to sign the enlistment paperwork for your kids. Here was one of my favorite sayings: Mr. and Mrs. Jones...the form you are signing today is authorizing the Army to medically and academically test your child. What they don't tell you is that once your child is done with his academic testing and the physical....your child will immediately be administered the oath of enlistment and will now be part of that services Delayed Entry Program ( for up to one year.) This process usually occurs for high school students between their junior and senior school year. REMEMBER, IF MCCAIN IS ELECTED AND HE HAS A CHANCE...YOUR CHILD WILL BE SENT TO IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. SO TELL ME...DO YOU HAVE FOND MEMORIES AND LOTS OF PICTURES.

If you are planning to vote for McCain because in your good conscience you can not vote for a black man...GUESS WHAT... OBAMA IS ALSO WHITE. If your vote against Obama is based on race...then you're an ignorant fool and I hope your child has a nice visit with a Marine Recruiter and signs up for the infantry. If you're a Hillary voter...and you will not vote for Obama...well, karma is pretty ruthless...and just think of that house that you'll be foreclosing on because your husband lost his job. A VOTE FOR OBAMA IS A VOTE FOR CHANGE AND AN END TO THE WAR IN IRAQ. A VOTE FOR MCCAIN MEANS FOUR MORE YEARS OF WAR AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHERE YOUR CHILD IS HEADED!

What do you think about that?

....IF IT NEVER HAPPENED THERE WOULD BE NO SURGE. McCain's argues that he had the judgment to support sending additional combat troops to Iraq to quell the rise in extremist violence. Fine, the surge was successful and exceeded the expectations of many, however, if our intelligence community spent more time collecting reliable data on Iraq's WMD situation and Saddam's ties to Al'qaeda, we never would have invaded a sovereign country based on lies and conjecture.

McCain wants Obama to acknowledge the success of the surge. I would agree with that request if McCain would acknowledge that invading Iraq was a monumental mistake.

Now to a more serious issue. OBAMA. I am white, my wife is white, my kids are white...you get the picture. I live in the south...as does the rest of my family. I am Republican, so it the rest of my family. I am voting for Obama, so is the rest of my family. Here is what I'm seeing and hearing. Many disgruntled men and women who were big supporters of Hillary are going to place their vote for McCain. They're upset that Obama got the nod. Well I want you to think about this as a mother and father...your 17 or 18 year old child (that will be graduating on 2009 and 2010) will be called by recruiters (I was a Marine Corps Recruiter). We (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps) already have your address and phone number. The schools give that information to us annually. Military Recruiters are at your child???s school, meeting with their teachers, developing contacts, working ???very closely with athletic coaches??? (Recruiters areconstantly looking for strong, athletic and intelligent males). Anyhow, we're going to call your house, we're going to send your kids (again males are the primary target for our advertisements) information about our particular service, we're going to get them in our offices where we use the advanced sales techniques (taught by Achieve Global) and communications skills (taught by Freiberg.com) that we learned in recruiters school (military sales schools that you as a tax payer - paid for) and we're are going to get your kids to enlist. If it's done right, you'll have to admire the skill and cunning with which this happens. (Side note - young men and women in the Delayed Entry Program can terminate their enlistment up until their final oath of enlistment and final signature of enlistment paper is completed at the Military Entrance Processing Station.)

I think what is confusing to me are a couple of things. 1) His pick of Palin was political and eveyone is ok with this like the fate of our future is a game. 2) On her first night she was not a winner, she was smug and bitchy with her kids right there to see and the Repugs ate it up, so much for the moral majority and by the way after all these years the Repugs still can't get color in their party? If they can't do that how can they say they will work for all the people. 3) We have had women running for President and had our first VP years ago, and now they pick one and the only reason they did was because they were losing, what does that say?
4) She is not a good mother, after giving birth to the last child she went back to work after 3 days, where was the bonding especially with a child like this and why keep the pregnancy quiet could it be that Todd did not want any more children or is it his????? 5) It is not the fact that her daughter is pregnant things do happen it is that she preaches all these moral things and look what happened and by the way where were both of the parents that this happened? 6) She has done nothing for special needs children and that is on record and because we do not know her she can stand there and say all kinds of things. 7) Is McCain going to expose her about the earmarks? Is she going to get him for all the lobbyists in his camp?? 8) She really has no experience and that is ok with us because GOSH DARN she is a woman and just so cute and we as women are so deparate that we will except any woman! 9) Instead of telling her story the first big night she lets them be this attack dog (She describes herself as a Pittbull and that is ok with us?) and even talks about foreign affairs and the surge and she has no clue what that means and the crowd goes wild? Everyone exclaims in a climax including the media she hit it out of the park, she is wonderful and look out Obama not realizing she was beauty contestant and she was a sports commentator so she did know how to read a telepromter and the most important thing! She did not write the speech Bushes people did, so much for trying to get away from Bush! Oh the HIPOCRACY! Obama took the high road and said lay off the family her and Mitt Romey just spit right in his face and tried to demean him and Michelle and the crowd went wild! SO I just want to know what is wrong with us, American, the Repugs and the Media are so scared of putting Obama in office that it has come down to this. GOD HELP US ALL!

It took me from Wednesday till tonight to put my finger on what bothers me the most about Palin.

This woman stood on stage on Wed. night and gave one of the most vicious speeches I have ever heard (in a convention of some mean speeches) and she did it with her children setting several feet away listening.

As a mom of four, that really bothers me.

What makes you think Obama is ready to assume the Presidency? His resume is no thicker than Palins.

I don't remember the Democrats being worried about Bill Clinton's foreign policy experience in 1992 and Sarah Palin has more foreign policy experience now than Bill Clinton did then. Árkansas is surrounded by other states. Alaska is surrounded by other countries, Sarah Palin just put together an agreement to build a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48. I goes through Canada.

She necessarily has to deal with Canada on this.

What negociation has Obama conducted with a foreign country?

What Was He Thinking?

Everytime the Republican Party mentions what qualifies Governor Palin to be VP, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison must cringe.

The Republican Party "once upon a time" owned "Family Values." Not anymore.

The Republican Party forgot one very old adage, "Be mindful of the behavior you condone." Especially, behavior that you're displaying before the whole world.

Who inserted teen pregnancy and all the associated issues "into" the Republican Party ticket? The Party seen by many as the Guardians of Family Values.

America is the Daughter of England born from royalty...Lady Diane, ring a bell?

Senator Obama an elitist, uppity, because he carries himself with the same dignity and high-mindedness that one should carry in their laudable pursuit of the highest office in the land?

As America puts the McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden tickets on display before the world, America is saying, "Here are examples of our best leaders, and here are their families."

The vetting process doesn't only to protect a candidate's party.

The vetting process protects the American electorate from being an embarassment throughout the free world.

Remember, the whole world is watching.