The Palin Problem

USMC2008, I think its really sad that you are so obsessed with Obama and his smoking habit. Newsflash - We currently have a president who is an alcoholic and he's been ok for eight years! Look at some of the footage and his colorful antics at the Olmpics where he almost fell and the Secret Service men had to help him stay on his feet. If you're not voting for Obama, fine. I respect that. I am not here to change anyone's opinions. But what I think all Americans need to do is to look at the facts, look at the issues -- economy, foreign relations, healthcare, education, energy, abortion, etc. and look at each candidate's position on those issues. Then see where YOU stand on those issues. The candidate with the most views that mirror your own is the right candidate for YOU and that is who YOU should vote for. Don't worry about if they are Republican or Democrat or whether or not someone smokes. Don't worry about what is being said by the media. FOCUS ON THE ISSUES AND FACTS! Because at the end of the day, that is what matters and what is going to directly affect YOUR life and that of your family for the next four years!

I don't even care about your article. I'm offended by the fact that you put a close-up of Sarah Pailin's uneditied face on the cover of your magazine. How dare you. I'm an Obama supporter and this offends me immensely. As someone that has been on the cover of a magazine, THEY EDIT! You didn't for Palin, Newsweek is slime, I will never read your crap.

Part 1

Sarah Thinks Obama "Pals Around" with Bill Ayers? Joe Vogler Makes Bill Ayers Look Patriotic. Why does Sarah Palin Consort With Anti-Americans?
The Palins' Un-American Activities

Imagine if the Obamas had hooked up with a violently anti-American group in league with the government of Iran.

By David Talbot

Oct. 07, 2008 | "My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand."

This was former revolutionary terrorist Bill Ayers back in his old Weather Underground days, right? Imagine what Sarah Palin is going to do with this incendiary quote as she tears into Barack Obama this week.

Only one problem. The quote is from Joe Vogler, the raging anti-American who founded the Alaska Independence Party. Inconveniently for Palin, that's the very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd, belonged to for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier this year. ("Keep up the good work," Palin told AIP members. "And God bless you.")

AIP chairwoman Lynette Clark told me recently that Sarah Palin is her kind of gal. "She's Alaskan to the bone ... she sounds just like Joe Vogler."

So who are these America-haters that the Palins are pallin' around with?

Before his strange murder in 1993, party founder Vogler preached armed insurrection against the United States of America. Vogler, who always carried a Magnum with him, was fond of saying, "When the [federal] bureaucrats come after me, I suggest they wear red coats. They make better targets. In the federal government are the biggest liars in the United States, and I hate them with a passion. They think they own [Alaska]. There comes a time when people will choose to die with honor rather than live with dishonor. That time may be coming here. Our goal is ultimate independence by peaceful means under a minimal government fully responsive to the people. I hope we don't have to take human life, but if they go on tramping on our property rights, look out, we're ready to die."

This quote is from "Coming Into the Country," by John McPhee, who traipsed around Alaska's remote gold mining country with Vogler for his 1991 book. The violent-tempered secessionist vowed to McPhee that if any federal official tried to stop him from polluting Alaska's rivers with his earth-moving equipment, he would "run over him with a Cat and turn mosquitoes loose on him while he dies."

Sarah Palin is a fundamentally incurious person. In other words, she is dumb. She doesn't read. She doesn't have the wide-ranging grasp of all sorts of complex world issues that the next President will *need* to have in order to move this country forward.

Comment: Part 2

Vogler wasn't just a blowhard either. He put his secessionist ideas into action, working to build AIP membership to 20,000 -- an impressive figure by Alaska standards -- and to elect party member Walter Hickel as governor in 1990.

Vogler's greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance before the United Nations to denounce United States "tyranny" before the entire world and to demand Alaska's freedom. The Alaska secessionist had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue.

That's right ... Iran. The Islamic dictatorship. The taker of American hostages. The rogue nation that McCain and Palin have excoriated Obama for suggesting we diplomatically engage. That Iran.

AIP leaders allege that Vogler, who was murdered that year by a fellow secessionist, was taken out by powerful forces in the U.S. before he could reach his U.N. platform. "The United States government would have been deeply embarrassed," by Vogler's U.N. speech, darkly suggests Clark. "And we can't have that, can we?"

The Republican ticket is working hard this week to make Barack Obama's tenuous connection to graying, '60s revolutionary Bill Ayers a major campaign issue. But the Palins' connection to anti-American extremism is much more central to their political biographies.

Imagine the uproar if Michelle Obama was revealed to have joined a black nationalist party whose founder preached armed secession from the United States and who enlisted the government of Iran in his cause? The Obama campaign would probably not have survived such an explosive revelation. Particularly if Barack Obama himself was videotaped giving the anti-American secessionists his wholehearted support just months ago.

Where's the outrage, Sarah Palin has been asking this week, in her attacks on Obama's fuzzy ties to Ayers? The question is more appropriate when applied to her own disturbing associations.

I have no idea what John McCain was thinking when he chose Sarah Palin....any ideas?

There seems to be a contradiction in this article about Sarah Palin's qualification to be President in a year or two. She will NEVER be qualified for the reasons you state about other Presidents who have been extraordinary people from modest means and had a curiousity about politics and history. Is Sarah Pailn going to start being interested in the world outside of Alaska anytime soon? I do not think so.

You are so obviously biased against Palin that I would not trust you to report anything that has not been biased and filtered through your editors' personal opinions.

I was just watching MSNBC and the blurb they had on the picture of Sarah Palin on the cover...GIVE ME A BREAK PEOPLE...do we not have more serious problems to worry about than what Sarah Palin's picture looks like on the cover of the magazine. As for the article itself, which I also read...if these are the choices that McCain makes...what kind of president will he make. I think people need to wake up and take a look around them.
Angelwatch1321

Have you ever heard of "FREEDOM OF PRESS"??? Too bad if you don't like the truth, someone has got to report it......turn the channel.

Newsweek should followup the Palin cover issue with a cover of Biden with a halo. This will nicely match their Obama cover with halo, and also show the world that they are very professional news organization by showing that they don't show any bias between their treatment of Obama and Biden.

Newsweek should followup the Palin with a cover of Biden with a halo. This will nicely match their Obama cover with halo, and also show the world that they are very professional news organization by not showing that they don't show any bias between their treatment of Obama and Biden.

This article sums it up for me. Although I think more investigation into her so-called Christian beliefs are also in order. She reminds me of some of the guys who sell cars with me. They have no idea of what they are selling but they are sure it is the greatest!

I agree with "voterfromoklahoma". As a Registered Republican, I am absolutely embarrassed by the crassness of this woman. She surely doesn't speak for me. Her refusal to answer questions during the debate, her interview with Katie, speak volumes of her ineptness. She should go back to Alaska where she can manipulate and humiliate her "joe sixpack" electorate.

My Dearest HyperD,

I???m sure you???re really impressed with your post. However, in your naïve attempt to discredit John McCain and Sarah Palin, you have discredited everyone who has ever served in our military, and, in part, afforded you the privileged position in life you are enjoying today as well as everyone else you know ??? and don???t ??? like Obama. You have also managed to show your complete lack of understanding of persistence and fortitude. Persistence and fortitude builds character. Perhaps, your grandparents, or even great grandparents, if they are still around, could explain that to you. Because, if you are the byproduct of your parents, I dare say they failed. Clearly, you???re evident of their best though.

See HyperD, this country was built with persistence, fortitude, and strength. It has survived and thrived on the backbone of its people. The educated and uneducated alike, in addition to our military have provided greatness, innovation, and security for our country.

John McCain not only served our country, but also sacrificed an inconceivable amount to do so. Still, he continues to serve. Sarah Palin persevered and got her education. Then, went on to serve her community, and to become Governor of Alaska. These are indeed very admirable accomplishments I???m sure very few of us will achieve.

Who paid Obama???s tuition should be of interest to you???.

I???m sure you are better than this HyperD. It would behoove you to grow up, reevaluate who you are as a person, and do some more reading.

Obama and Rev. Wright had a close relationship with for 20 years.

Newsweek should put Obama on the cover with no touch-ups. Now, that would be interesting for the American folks.

Dallas Cowboy Tony Romo tries to vote early in Nevada! LMAO! Obama's Acornuts get bagged again for voter fraud!

Right on the money, Newsweek. Thank you for having the guts to tell it like it is -- something we sorely need from our media. You'll no doubt be picketed angrily for merely telling the truth by the rightwing mob, that should be amusing to watch. Palin, like much of her fanatical followers, is dangerously uneducated. That we now have a vice presidential candidate who believes people coexisted with dinosaurs five thousand years ago is pathetic. What about that pastor who laid hands on Palin to protect her from witchcraft? No wonder the world laughs at America. What century are we in? Maybe "conservative" means turning back the clock to the 12th century. Seriously, you could pick a random person out of the phone book and a two in three chance they'd be better suited to lead than Sarah "Protected from Witchcraft" Palin.