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  • Posted By: josemarti @ 09/22/2008 9:42:42 PM

    Top secret meeting held today in Chicago between Obama campaign and news executives. The meeting was held to coordinate strategy for the rest of the campaign. News executives agreed to aggressively go after McCain on the Keating Five. They were reluctant to (but finally aggreed) to link Palin to methamphetamine trade in Alaska. In addition her husband was to be linked to illegal gambling ring. At the same time, they would continue to emphasize McCain's old age and suggest that he suffers from PTSD due to his Vietnam experience. The executives also agree to shield Obama by refusing to run ads linking him to Mr. Ayers and Reverend Wright. Obama operative Kwansi Mfune expressed complete satisfaction.

    • Posted By: happylefty @ 09/22/2008 11:19:57 PM

      Wow, you must be really important since those at the meeting saw fit to include you in on it. But, if it's such a secret, how come you know about it?

    • Posted By: feefee @ 09/22/2008 10:13:45 PM

      I don't think you be discussing this if it was a top secret meeting..... Sounds like a bunch of BULL s*** to me.

  • Posted By: pennsylvanian @ 09/22/2008 9:43:08 PM

    Ok Mr. Harris, what is your analysis of OBAMA's qualifications vis a vis Palin. If you are to be intellectually honest you'll agree with me that Obama shows dismal qualifications to lead this country. From what I can see, he is certainly LESS qualified than Palin lead this nation.
    I can only feel confident with McCainas president in these troubled times. (Biden is way too liberal for me and his 30 years of experience are the wrong experiences and he has learned the wrong lessons and have taught him nothing that can help this country)
    Obama was a community agitator ("organizer" ??!!) who never tried to reform the corrupt Chicago DALey machine but instead moved through the ranks. You say in your article the company a person keep reveals a lot about that person, then waht about Obama's company: Bill Ayres(terrorist) Rev Wright (religious extremist) Refko (corrupt and xcriminal businesman), Acorn, the organization penalized for voter fraud, etc, etc etc.
    OBAMA is simply an empty suit who got into Ivy league schoolsl only because of affirmative action programs ( and you know it !),, who moved up the political machinery of his state by never challenging it ( unlike Sarah Palin, that challenged even her own state's republican party bosses) and got rewarded by being promoted up the political lader. He's THE MOST liberal senator curerently in congress. He is WRONG for your country!

    • Posted By: feefee @ 09/22/2008 10:10:51 PM

      You are a true racist! Nobody black is smart enough to get in a Ivy League college are they? You really NEED to take a good look at yourself. Who was wrong for this country is Bush and people like yourself. You bigot!

      • Posted By: happylefty @ 09/22/2008 11:15:42 PM

        As a matter of fact, pennsylvanian, Obama got into college without affirmative action; he didn't indicate on his application that he was indeed black and eligible. Really, if you're going to make these wild, racist accusations, you could at least fact-check first. Thanks, though. You really cleared it up for me just how smart you Palin supporters are. Genius, truly. You might want to offer your help to Go Sarah! who's planning on performing neurosurgery on her child, if necessary. Give her a hand.

  • Posted By: Thotman @ 09/22/2008 11:14:59 PM

    Ah the smell of revisionist history. Even Recent history has a way of being revised and reinterpreted to make ones own view point SEEM rational. The ability to take a beating and keep on ticking is something few politicans have, but Palin seems to be handling the most vicious attacks in modern political memory with grace and style.... I agree with G-Dan...the CANDIDATES should be grilled by the media...OBAMA included for his support of a racist religious paradigm for the last twenty years. It is amazing how blind to the bias exhibited by the elite media in their defense of Obama and their trashing of Palin. Anyone who is blind to this difference is either a total idiot or simply one of the sheep that has bought into the "anything but what we have" syndrome. Obama had DONE nothing. His words are hollow, and his name dropping associations as shallow as the quickly formed alliances demostrate...Paul Volker? An Economic advisor? The Fed chairman who gave us 15% interest rates and nearly broke the back of our economy during the Carter years? ...Thats what we need, 1970's thinking about todays problems. GIVE ME A BREAK... The Democrats AND Republicans, who insisted that EVERYONE should own a home...whether they qualify or not...Who required that banks treat unqualified applicants as MINORITIES in order to keep federal approvals...were not just motivated by GREED... The investment banks who bought all that bad paper so mortgage companies could keep issuing subprime loans...were counting on consistancy by the FED..Sadly tho, most who want to place blame dont even know what it means to SELL SHORT. The Obama blame game is just more finger pointing for political gain.

  • Posted By: anartist @ 09/22/2008 11:14:38 PM

    I found it quite amusing that the writer made such an issue of Palin's religious leanings. His conclusion that her religious affiliation made her unfit to be vice presidential material, was a great example of political satire. He's probably going to vote for McCain and just wanted to kick Obama's legs out from under him. i mean honestly...... the Reverend Wright's hate filled rants about America and white people surely turned Obama into a racist, right?

  • Posted By: Stopthetwins @ 09/22/2008 11:07:17 PM

    Bravo! You hit the bullseye Sam! Never heard her once mention the US Constitution in her RNC speech. Correct me if I'm wrong because the only time I could bare her voice was that once. How well does she know the US Constitution? She seems to remind this "elitist" of a certain power in Europe of the 1930's and early 1940's.The similarities are frightening. Thank God for higher education!

  • Posted By: mlday @ 09/22/2008 10:59:46 PM

    Comment: Sam is usually a rational guy but he has totally embraced dogma here. I have always had a lot of respect for him and it makes me sad to see his partisan rationalizations. Surely he must now understand how people find religion. Sam has jumped the wave.

  • Posted By: Go Sarah! @ 09/22/2008 10:59:21 PM

    Wow. Believing Christians should be precluded from being leaders of our government? What an amazing assertion. Virtually every one of our presidents has been an active Christian. Lincoln called upon God in every speech he gave about the Civil War. Simply amazing--you really don't live in this country, do you, Sam? Do you have any idea how out-of step your opinion is among the voters in this nation? No wonder we celebrate mediocrity, if this inanity is the best the "elite" can deliver.

    And Sarah Palin? I'm a mom of 8, and if I had to do neurosurgery on my child, you can bet I would find a way to do it. When you are a mom, the buck stops with you. No one will care more about that child than its mom--she will beat every bush and track down every lead she can until she can help her child. Do I want a mom who has learned not to blink in the White House? You bet. I'd take a mom who wouldn't blink over an "expert" who really was not invested in the outcome. If nothing else, she would find the experts who did really care.

    Go, Sarah! Save us from the likes of Sam Harris . . .

  • Posted By: grandmamary @ 09/22/2008 10:52:04 PM

    Why had we never heard of Palin before McCain sprung her on us? Of all the people he could have chosen, why her? What is her greatest accomplishment? Why is she any better than any of the other candidates he could have chosen. Nobody ever even knew she existed before now. Just because she's a mother of five doesn't make her vice presidential material. I'm a mother of five and I don't think I could qualify. Ihhhhavstrereligous affiliaa

  • Posted By: reader666 @ 09/22/2008 10:15:16 PM

    You know, If you were to speak in tongue out on a street corner, as they do in Palins' church, you would probably be hauled away to a state hospital. Unless you are a homeless person.

    • Posted By: Davole @ 09/22/2008 10:50:59 PM

      reader666 -

      Obama sure likes to speak in tongues - hope and change ... hope and change ... hope and change!

  • Posted By: starlifter71 @ 09/22/2008 10:46:47 PM

    Bizarre is all I can say to describe your comments lamenting Palin's lack of experience, when I look at Obama's lack of experience made up for only with the gift of a slick tongue rivaling the very best of the old snake oil salesmen. I say bring it on, the American people are not as dumb as you think. Obama is toast.

  • Posted By: jmaloney @ 09/22/2008 10:20:11 PM

    The fact that Sarah Palin can be put in this position tells us something very disturbing about the American people. She scares me.

    • Posted By: Davole @ 09/22/2008 10:46:12 PM

      jmaloney -

      She scares Obama and Biden also!

  • Posted By: C.W. @ 09/22/2008 10:43:50 PM

    OK, do a find and replace on your computer, finding every reference to Palin and replacing it with Obama, and then you can recycle this column and save yourself some time before the deadline approaches for your next column.

  • Posted By: juggamynugga @ 09/22/2008 10:41:55 PM

    Palin compares very favorably to Obama even on the issue of experience and it was pretty clear that Charles Gibson embarassed himself by coming off so condescending in his interview. My thoughts: http://nmorton.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/obama-doesnt-compare-to-palin-on-experience/

  • Posted By: starlifter71 @ 09/22/2008 10:41:47 PM

    Bizarre is all I can say to describe your comments lamenting Palin's lack of experience, when I look at Obama's lack of experience made up for only with the gift of a slick tongue rivaling the very best of the old snake oil salesmen. I say bring it on, the American people are not as dumb as you think. Obama is toast.

    starlifter71

  • Posted By: IronDioPriest @ 09/22/2008 10:34:32 PM

    Your belief that faithful Christians are unfit to lead this country ignores the reality of history. Your belief that only the elite are qualified to lead demonstrates exactly how out of touch you are with the sentiments of the majority of the American people.

    Sam Harris, you are an extremist. A simple-minded, Left-wing extremist. Nothing more.

  • Posted By: heiljoe @ 09/22/2008 8:55:15 PM

    I visit every site imaginable from supremacy to liberal sites. I've done my homework and realize that the McCain/Pain ticket is wicked and corrupt as they come. This ticket (McCain/Palin) dishes out the dirt and lies and cannot handle it when their opponents do the same....All they seem to do is whine. McCain has flip-flooped so much I can't even keep count; he is not the least bit concerned as to what the public or supporters may think. Sarah Palin has refused to cooperate with the investigation in Alaska (the firing of Wooten); that really troubles me. Sarah Palin also refuses to interview with her supporters or the media; I have a big problem with that.....you have something to hide??

    I have voted for Bush twice without a second thought and have been really ignorant for not really looking beyond the surface. I am well educated and hard-working and have taken enough hits financially from this adminstration, just for being working class. Yes, I'm educated and my salary is close to a 6 figure income, but I'm still getting screwed.......

    Personally I think McCain is a good guy and I like him, but his VP choice should have been Mitt Romney. Sarah Palin has proven to be a pathetic degenerage and a low-life who just happens to be attractive on the surface. I don't like Obama nor am I a fan of blacks or any other muds. People we can't let the McCain/Palin ticket win, all corrupt Republicans should be taught a lesson.

    • Posted By: feefee @ 09/22/2008 10:32:04 PM

      Comment: I visit every site imaginable from supremacy to liberal sites.

      Yeah you sound really intelligent... More like ignorant. You look beyond the surface don't you, but you still see color. Doesn't sound like it to me, we are all getting screw because people like you are so ignorant to vote for Bush twice!

    • Posted By: Searchin4Turth @ 09/22/2008 9:22:40 PM

      What about all the corrupt Democrats that will vote to ruin the USA with continued dependence on foreign oil??? What will happen to your 6 figure income then?
      Obviously, you haven't checked out the Obamacon enough...he is an Arab, not black American. Obama may not even be an American. Seems Mr. Obama can''t find a certified copy of his birth certificate anywhere in the USA. Maybe Kenya?

      • Posted By: MelB68 @ 09/22/2008 10:10:23 PM

        I thought you said he wasn't African-American. Isn't Kenya an African country?

        HMMM

  • Posted By: auret @ 09/20/2008 5:26:45 PM

    although i agree that palin is laughably unqualified for any public office and is a terrifying choice for vice president... this article is so full of antitheistic bigotry and hate that it undermines your own argument....

    your closed minded hate is just as much a faith based decision as any other... probablu more so.

    I am voting obama because of my christian faith... I oppose the current administration for the same reason.

    • Posted By: mxwllcld @ 09/20/2008 5:46:15 PM

      I am a devout Christian and I am also supporting Obama/Biden. It makes me sad that so many people believe that Christian and social conservative are synonymous.

      • Posted By: Pimientita @ 09/22/2008 10:30:44 PM

        "I am a devout Christian and I am also supporting Obama/Biden. It makes me sad that so many people believe that Christian and social conservative are synonymous."

        Then why don't all of you moderate and liberal Christians get together and speak out more against your more fanatical brethren? Most of what we atheists see and hear comes from the Religious Right noise machine. The face of Christianity in this country is the ugly mugs of Pat Robertson, James Dobson and the rest of the batshit crazy fundamentalists. Where is the organization of moderate and liberal Christians providing a counter-example?

        And for the record (to auret and others who have suggested that the article was anti-theist) the author was expressing alarm over a specific flavor of Christianity. The kind that is looking forward to the Rapture with a manic gleam in their eyes. The kind who can barely suppress their glee when children are being blown up in Iraq or Lebanon because they feel that it is the fulfillment of Scripture and are none too eager to hasten Armageddon. The kind that feel the need to "take the country back for Christ" using very frightening militaristic terminology and subscribe to Dominionism.

        That is kind of theist that Mr. Harris is describing in this article. He does have issues with religion, as evidenced by his books and other articles, but this article would not have been written by him if a moderate or liberal Christian (or even, perhaps, a conservative Christian who didn't subscribe to the apocalyptic, theocratic thinking that Sarah Palin does) was in the running. Oh, gee, wait, he doesn't speak out against McCain's religious views or Obama's or Biden's. Funny, that.

        Harris is very specific. Palin and her ilk are very scary and I, for one, do not want her anywhere near the White House.

  • Posted By: rearmainseal @ 09/22/2008 9:21:08 PM

    Sam Harris puts the future of journalism at a much greater risk.

    • Posted By: Dr Rick @ 09/22/2008 10:17:49 PM

      A good thing, actually

  • Posted By: Midaztouch @ 09/22/2008 4:11:41 PM

    I thought the headline was WONDERFUL. Finally an artical that revels truth. To all of you that just DON'T GET IT, you need to be checked out by a doctor. Nor person in their right mind can think that this woman is ready to lead a world power. Your kidding yourself or you have to REALLY wonder what your motive it for thinking such a CRAZY thing. And you know what I am getting at. When PRESIDENT OBAMA is in office and your get the tax brakes he told you about and your standard of living goes up, just remember all that you and others have said. I bet you won't even admit how wrong you were. But we forgive you and welcome you to the family. May God Bless America, and my HE bless the next President of the United States, OBAMA.

    • Posted By: patton434 @ 09/22/2008 5:00:30 PM

      Midaz, are you on crack??!! Obama has voted to raise taxes 94 times in his short stint as senator!! In fact, raising taxes is just about the ONLY thing he has done - ever!! His policies will also make it less profitable for companies to operate in America... know what that means? Yes, that's right, companies will start setting up more operations overseas, and that's exactly where all the jobs will go!! OBAMA IS CORRUPT!!!

      • Posted By: bomo @ 09/22/2008 10:13:54 PM

        The McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee both claim that Obama has voted 94 times ???for higher taxes. Factcheck.org finds that their count is padded.
        * Twenty-three were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all; they were against proposed tax cuts. * Seven of the votes were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, while raising them on a relative few, either corporations or affluent individuals.

        * Eleven votes the GOP is counting would have increased taxes on those making more than $1 million a year ??? in order to fund programs such as Head Start and school nutrition programs, or veterans??? health care.

        * The GOP sometimes counted two, three and even four votes on the same measure. We found their tally included a total of 17 votes on seven measures, effectively padding their total by 10.

        * The majority of the 94 votes ??? 53 of them, including some mentioned above ??? were on budget measures, not tax bills, and would not have resulted in any tax change. Four other votes were non-binding motions related to conference report negotiations.

        It's true that most of the votes the GOP counts would either have increased taxes for some, or set budget targets calling for such increases. But by repeating their inflated 94-vote figure, the McCain campaign and the GOP falsely imply that Obama has pushed indiscriminately to raise taxes for nearly everybody. A closer look reveals that he's voted consistently to restore higher tax rates on upper-income taxpayers but not on middle- or low-income workers. That's consistent with what he's said he'd do as president, which is to raise taxes only on those making more than $250,000 a year.

  • Posted By: PennJS @ 09/22/2008 10:10:44 PM

    This article is biased and innacurate. For example, the author notes that "she (Sarah Palin) is a beauty queen/sports reporter who stumbled into small-town politics, and who is now on the verge of stumbling into, or upon, world history." He failed to mention that Sarah Pailn is governor of Alaska and that she has more executive experience than does Obama.

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