Something About Sarah by NRO's [Jay Nordlinger]:
"Earlier this morning, I wrote that the attacks on Governor Palin — particularly the breaking into her e-mail — were making me sick. One reader wrote, “I, too, have been feeling a physical revulsion over the Left’s determination to destroy Sarah Palin, by any means necessary.” That reader spoke for many.
I myself have a tale to relate. An episode left me kind of shaken, honestly. Last week, I was talking to a friend of mine — a very warm and humane woman. We’ve been friends for years. I had been away, and we hadn’t talked politics — but then, we never do. We never had. She’s a liberal, of course — virtually everyone here in NYC is. And I never, ever bring up politics (with pretty much anyone — not worth the trouble) (and, of course, I do it professionally).
But she said to me, out of the blue, “What do you think of Sarah Palin?” And while I was drawing breath to answer, she said, “I hate her.”
That kind of took my breath away — because this friend of mine is no hater. But she said it with firm, horrible conviction. She said it with true emotion in her eyes. Frankly, I was too taken aback to reply, other than to say, “Well, my feeling is the exact opposite.”
I can see how you might disagree with Governor Palin — she’s a conservative, after all. I can see how you might find her unprepared even for the vice-presidency. But hate? Hate a woman who rose from a modest background to be governor of her state? Who is obviously a warm, civic-minded, talented mother of five?
Hate?"
Thursday, September 18, 2008
And...Something About Sarah...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
In a family that has been invaded by liberals :) I find myself having many conversations that seem very lopsided in just the same way you describe here. My sister said Palin is "a scary woman." When I pressed her for details to support her "scary" conclusion she said she had "heard some things about her, like she fires everyone she doesn't agree with." Now, my sister is an intelligent person, but when I asked her if all the things we've "heard" about Obama or his wife should be given the same credibility as what is being thrown around about Palin, she couldn't answer. It's amazing to me that the same people who want us to forget that Obama considers Bill Ayers a confidante, attended church for 20+ years with the raving lunatic that is Jeremiah Wright, allowed a man with questionable business dealings (an later convicted of fraud etc) to help him buy a house that was above his means, that Michelle received a fat raise from the university she worked for AFTER he secured a million dollars in earmarks for the university...the list goes on and on...they want us to just dismiss all those things they look at with such a jaundiced eye. The hypocrisy is just unbelievable.
Hypocrisy? Both sides use it and are equally guilty. Suddenly Republicans think experience is overrated? (Again? Flashback: GWB in 2000...) I could go on....
But I'll give the other view. I can't understand the fervor for Palin. At all. I don't hate her. She seems pleasant enough. Confident. Capable - in the abstract sense. And seemingly up to the job of heading the US's 48th smallest state, in population. But Alaska is a far cry from the U.S. in terms of its issues and problems. She has not impressed me in the least in her interviews. Her invitation to play "stump the candidate" on foreign policy was so empty you could hear the wind blowing through it - and McCain jumped in to make sure no one did ask anything. Compare her interview with Gibson and Obama's interview(s) with the MUCH TOUGHER AND MORE BLATANTLY PARTISAN Bill O'Reilly. How can we even be comparing her and Obama in terms of experience and readiness? It baffles me. It seems like a joke, really. I don't hate her, but in 100% pure candor (and beyond partisan feelings, cuz I don't feel this way about John McCain) I cannot, even a little bit, understand how people think she is ready to be President. I could personally give more meaningful and educated responses to these questions. I won't even address the issue of her misrepresentations of her own record and positions. Ugh. I'll also save my "Bush Doctrine" comment for the thread below....
That's what I like about you, Dave. You're not a hater!
Here's the thing. Does Palin have a lot experience? Not really. Does the experience she does have help her should she become President? I think so...in that it is executive experience. I've read that the role of governor in Alaska is actually more complex than most states, and she has apparently done an excellent job there.
Now compare to Obama. 2 years in the US Senate is not much - and he hasn't even led any significant efforts within the Senate. Before that, legislator in Illinois. Again, not executive "buck-stops-here" experience, and again, what significant efforts did he independently lead there? And before that - community organizer. Admirable, sure. But not much for a presidential resume.
Do I as a Republican think experience is unimportant? No. But it is logically defensible to say that Palin's experience is superior preparation for the Presidency compared to Obama's. Now, both McCain and Biden at least have a long US Senate career, and McCain has been a leader on many efforts in the Senate and has also been a command leader in the military. But McCain is at least in the #1 position on the Republican ticket, where Obama, the least experienced, is the Dems' #1.
I think the "executive" experience card is overplayed. McCain doesn't have any. Nor Biden. But I would vote for either of them 1,000 times over Palin for President. You can't learn a few policy positions from 3x5 cards and then be "ready." She needs more experience, more exposure, more knowledge.
Her candor and ethics are also in doubt (and that, I think, is putting it kindly). The Trooper-gate problem is gaining traction and looking more and more like a real issue that puts her ethical credibility - and ability to abide by fundamental constrictions on use of executive authority - in doubt. See http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/11/palin.investigation/index.html#cnnSTCText?iref=werecommend
oh, one last thing. sorry. i'm trying to drop this issue. but Palin just dumbfounds me. anyway, i just want to say, if you want to compare crazy pastors....Palin's got one too!!! =]
I have read up on the "Troopergate" story, and if it is gaining traction, it is only one side of the story. Even if the State Safety Commissioner was fired for not getting rid of Palin's ex-brother-in-law, rather than for budgetary reasons, as Palin claims, an investigation into the confirmed allegations against Palin's ex-brother-in-law reveals that he should have been fired, simply from a public safety perspective. Any governor should have pushed for the firing of the ex-brother-in-law, and his firing, if not prosecution, would have been warranted. The fact that it was a former relation of Palin's just brought it to her attention; it doesn't detract from the reality of the horrible things the individual did.
And again I keep asking - what makes Barak Obama more qualified than Sarah Palin to be president? What of significance has he done other than advance his own career and speak well?
Post a Comment