How in the hell is this guy ahead in the polls?

So, saying "Yessir, I'll sign those papers right away," is foreign policy experience?

hubiestubert: So, saying "Yessir, I'll sign those papers right away," is foreign policy experience?

compared to living near the border of Russia, yeah.

So does the Governor of North Dakota. It's next to Canada and has suffered casualties in Iraq, as well.

I think a photoshop of hottie Palin in bikini with a assault rifle is appropriate here....or just a hot girl on a tank with a bazooka or flame thrower...that's the ticket.

/think Zemanova

Shrugging Atlas: How in the hell is this guy ahead in the polls?

There are still a *lot* of people who feel like they had their power taken away in the MLK era, and are just looking for someone to take out their resentment on. If McCain had picked Jindal or some other, less "racially pure" candidate, he would have thrown away the 5-10% they give him.

He traded a smaller bloc of affluent, educated gop "leaners" for a larger, more hard-core base that would have stayed home on election day. Sleazy, but damn smart in a purely mathematical sense.

Another new low courtesy of McCain Co.

I just realized, you can tack on 'in my pants' to just about any sentence involving Palin, and it will make sense.

MisterTweak: He traded a smaller bloc of affluent, educated gop "leaners" for a larger, more hard-core base that would have stayed home on election day. Sleazy, but damn smart in a purely mathematical sense.

And pure Rovian to the core. After 2000 and 2004 I shouldn't be surprised McCain is going this route, but I had honestly hoped people would have caught on by now.

mcwebe0: So does the Governor of North Dakota. It's next to Canada and has suffered casualties in Iraq, as well.

Yeah, but Canada is America's hat. Russia is Alaska's ushanka, which definitely sounds more foreigny.

Weak.

I...I just don't have the energy to go on another Palin tirade today. I can only say so much, and I'm very very tired, so I'm going to go lie down instead. Let me know how it turns out.

MisterTweak: There are still a *lot* of people who feel like they had their power taken away in the MLK era, and are just looking for someone to take out their resentment on. If McCain had picked Jindal or some other, less "racially pure" candidate, he would have thrown away the 5-10% they give him.

He traded a smaller bloc of affluent, educated gop "leaners" for a larger, more hard-core base that would have stayed home on election day. Sleazy, but damn smart in a purely mathematical sense

The number of blacks and to a lesser degree other minorities who will turn out in droves for Obama at least cancels out the number of white racists who a) would have voted for a white Democrat and b) will vote for McCain now.

I've said it before, but that whole "Commander in Chief of the state National Guard" line is so utterly ridiculous. So ridiculous, that if Clinton had tried to invoke his experience as Commander in Chief of the Arkansas National Guard, all you right-leaners would have collectively soiled yourselves laughing.

Does being Governor of Alaska also make her a pilot for Alaska Airlines?

is this the same commander in chief of the alaska national guard who heard about their deployments last year on the evening news?

propasaurus: I've said it before, but that whole "Commander in Chief of the state National Guard" line is so utterly ridiculous. So ridiculous, that if Clinton had tried to invoke his experience as Commander in Chief of the Arkansas National Guard, all you right-leaners would have collectively soiled yourselves laughing.

Does being Governor of Alaska also make her a pilot for Alaska Airlines?

It shouldn't matter who the candidate is or to what party they or the voters belong. The line, "Commander in Chief of the National Guard" should be considered one of the most absurd lines ever spoken in the history of American politics. The amazing stupidity of the comment almost hits you with physical force that makes your brain shut down.

Churchill2004: MisterTweak: There are still a *lot* of people who feel like they had their power taken away in the MLK era, and are just looking for someone to take out their resentment on. If McCain had picked Jindal or some other, less "racially pure" candidate, he would have thrown away the 5-10% they give him.

He traded a smaller bloc of affluent, educated gop "leaners" for a larger, more hard-core base that would have stayed home on election day. Sleazy, but damn smart in a purely mathematical sense

The number of blacks and to a lesser degree other minorities who will turn out in droves for Obama at least cancels out the number of white racists who a) would have voted for a white Democrat and b) will vote for McCain now.

I don't know about the number of blacks cancelling out the racists. Your forgetting that racists primarily all live together in southern white states. Maybe in the northern states the black vote will, but I can't imagine blacks outnumber white racists in Arkansas, etc...

However, it's becoming increasingly obvious that Palin is very power savvy and makes good political decisions, but has zero issue experience along with quite a few skeletons in the closet. I suspect McCain will take a big hit in the debates- there is a reason why he's hiding her from the press. I'd be willing to bet she didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shiite before 2 weeks ago. It would have killed any chance they had if she had been interviewed and sounded like a 10th grader.

propasaurus: I've said it before, but that whole "Commander in Chief of the state National Guard" line is so utterly ridiculous. So ridiculous, that if Clinton had tried to invoke his experience as Commander in Chief of the Arkansas National Guard, all you right-leaners would have collectively soiled yourselves laughing.

It's like saying that being CEO of a hospital automatically makes you qualified to perform surgery. The thing that's SO stupid is that it really doesn't matter what kind of military experience or military command experience a President has....that's what they have all of the generals, admirals and advisors for. FDR may have been our greatest wartime President and he never served in the military...it didn't matter because he wasn't the one drawing up the battle plans. Stoopid.

sloppy shoes: I'd be willing to bet she didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shiite before 2 weeks ago.

And with McCain coaching her, chances are she still doesn't know the difference.

jerry2a: propasaurus: I've said it before, but that whole "Commander in Chief of the state National Guard" line is so utterly ridiculous. So ridiculous, that if Clinton had tried to invoke his experience as Commander in Chief of the Arkansas National Guard, all you right-leaners would have collectively soiled yourselves laughing.

It's like saying that being CEO of a hospital automatically makes you qualified to perform surgery. The thing that's SO stupid is that it really doesn't matter what kind of military experience or military command experience a President has....that's what they have all of the generals, admirals and advisors for. FDR may have been our greatest wartime President and he never served in the military...it didn't matter because he wasn't the one drawing up the battle plans. Stoopid.

"Military experience" is a canard. It mattered that Clinton didn't have any, but it didn't matter that Kerry did and now it matters that Obama and Biden don't but McCain does.

propasaurus: sloppy shoes: I'd be willing to bet she didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shiite before 2 weeks ago.

And with McCain coaching her, chances are she still doesn't know the difference.

I'd be willing to bet two weeks ago she didn't know the name of a single Iraqi politician or have the ability to find Georgia on a map. I'm not being snarky either. Her knowledge of foreign affairs and American foreign policy is quite honestly probably not even on par with the average denizen of the fark politics tab.

Shrugging Atlas: propasaurus: sloppy shoes: I'd be willing to bet she didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shiite before 2 weeks ago.

And with McCain coaching her, chances are she still doesn't know the difference.

I'd be willing to bet two weeks ago she didn't know the name of a single Iraqi politician or have the ability to find Georgia on a map. I'm not being snarky either. Her knowledge of foreign affairs and American foreign policy is quite honestly probably not even on par with the average denizen of the fark politics tab.

Well she is closest to the regions of Canada and Russia that no one ever visits. I was really hoping a journalist would point out to a McCain staffer that Moscow is on the other side of Russia.

The thing about her experience that is hilarious though, is that to anybody with an IQ above 100 it should be entirely obvious that she is most likely smart and hard working, but she has zero experience dealing with any national issues. Nor does she really have experience dealing with national politics. She hired that lobbyist for a reason.

And the adjuntant general of the AK National Guard saying "she's not really 'commander-in-chief,' per se" slips further and further into the memory hole.

Shrugging Atlas: I'd be willing to bet two weeks ago she didn't know the name of a single Iraqi politician or have the ability to find Georgia on a map. I'm not being snarky either. Her knowledge of foreign affairs and American foreign policy is quite honestly probably not even on par with the average denizen of the fark politics tab.

And being Governor I wouldn't necessarily expect her to be on par with a Senator in knowing the finer points. Senators are involved in international issues, Governors are focused on running their state. What bothers me though is that apparently she doesn't watch the news, or read books...I would think that if you were in politics you'd have some interest in understanding issues even if they don't have a direct impact on your state. Her statement that she didn't know much about the Iraq war was mind-blowing. Can you imagine if Obama had said that he didn't know a lot about how the healthcare system worked or if McCain had said he didn't really understand much about the economy?

Laughable. That alone doesn't distinguish her from any other governor.

More resume padding from Madam PTA.

sloppy shoes: I don't know about the number of blacks cancelling out the racists. Your forgetting that racists primarily all live together in southern white states. Maybe in the northern states the black vote will, but I can't imagine blacks outnumber white racists in Arkansas, etc...

As someone who lives in Arkansas, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the total number of blacks (about 16%) outnumbered the number of people who'd never vote for a black man. However, that's totally irrelevant. The only numbers that matter are a) the number of blacks who will vote for Obama but would have otherwise stayed home or not voted for the Democrat and b) the number of racists who would have voted for a white Dem but will now vote for McCain. I think a > b, probably by a significant margin.

jerry2a: Shrugging Atlas: I'd be willing to bet two weeks ago she didn't know the name of a single Iraqi politician or have the ability to find Georgia on a map. I'm not being snarky either. Her knowledge of foreign affairs and American foreign policy is quite honestly probably not even on par with the average denizen of the fark politics tab.

And being Governor I wouldn't necessarily expect her to be on par with a Senator in knowing the finer points. Senators are involved in international issues, Governors are focused on running their state. What bothers me though is that apparently she doesn't watch the news, or read books...I would think that if you were in politics you'd have some interest in understanding issues even if they don't have a direct impact on your state. Her statement that she didn't know much about the Iraq war was mind-blowing. Can you imagine if Obama had said that he didn't know a lot about how the healthcare system worked or if McCain had said he didn't really understand much about the economy?

It'd be awesome if the media pundits actually pointed this stuff out to the general public.

Shrugging Atlas: propasaurus: sloppy shoes: I'd be willing to bet she didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shiite before 2 weeks ago.

And with McCain coaching her, chances are she still doesn't know the difference.

I'd be willing to bet two weeks ago she didn't know the name of a single Iraqi politician or have the ability to find Georgia on a map. I'm not being snarky either. Her knowledge of foreign affairs and American foreign policy is quite honestly probably not even on par with the average denizen of the fark politics tab.

I doubt she could find Atlanta, Georgia on a map.

Laughable. When listing the nations she's visited, they've mentioned Ireland, which was a stop on her way to Kuwait. So apparently now visiting an airport counts as foreign policy experience in that country.

If this country elects McCain and polling shows that the margin of difference was Dems that didn't vote for Obama because he's black, and would have otherwise voted Democrat, then we will once again deserve the president we get. Just like we deserved what we got after electing BushII, twice.

Lundah: Laughable. When listing the nations she's visited, they've mentioned Ireland, which was a stop on her way to Kuwait. So apparently now visiting an airport counts as foreign policy experience in that country.

Well, it that's the case, I can add a lot of farking cities to the list of places I've visited as apparently I've never once used a travel agent that knew what a direct flight was.

jerry2a: And being Governor I wouldn't necessarily expect her to be on par with a Senator in knowing the finer points. Senators are involved in international issues, Governors are focused on running their state. What bothers me though is that apparently she doesn't watch the news, or read books...I would think that if you were in politics you'd have some interest in understanding issues even if they don't have a direct impact on your state. Her statement that she didn't know much about the Iraq war was mind-blowing. Can you imagine if Obama had said that he didn't know a lot about how the healthcare system worked or if McCain had said he didn't really understand much about the economy?

That's what I was trying to get at. She doesn't even have the intellectual couriosity that drives the average American citizen to read a newspaper or watch the news. You don't need to be a politician to want to know WTF is going on in the world around you. In this day and age you almost have to make a concerted effort to avoid information and have a lack of even a basic understanding of world events.

Hell, to play out McCain's logic here that she was CinC of the Alaskan National Guard which grants her some level of experience since members of it fought in Iraq, then why last year did she tell the press she wasn't paying attention enough to Iraq to even comment on it--at what was the height of the violence there.

NightOwl2255: If this country elects McCain and polling shows that the margin of difference was Dems that didn't vote for Obama because he's black, and would have otherwise voted Democrat, then we will once again deserve the president we get. Just like we deserved what we got after electing BushII, twice.

Totally agree with you. It's a shame so many of our countrymen and women make their voting decisions based on commercials and sound bites. They should review all the issues, the candidates' stands on them, and reflect on the overall performance of the party the candidates are members of. Voting based on one issue only, like gay marriage, creationism, religion in schools, gun ownership, employment, economics, national security, and so on, isn't childish. One needs to look at the entire team.

/If Republicans get elected again ...
//I'm afraid what will happen to our republic after the last 8 years.

Correction: "IS" childish

pretty slim foreign policy experience..... 'bout as much as Obama's...... only one is running for vice-president.....

Shrugging Atlas: How in the hell is this guy ahead in the polls?



The stupid is strong with America

propasaurus: Does being Governor of Alaska also make her a pilot for Alaska Airlines?

No, I think that is a union job, isn't it?

I can't imagine her supporting that.

Shrugging Atlas: That's what I was trying to get at. She doesn't even have the intellectual couriosity that drives the average American citizen to read a newspaper or watch the news. You don't need to be a politician to want to know WTF is going on in the world around you. In this day and age you almost have to make a concerted effort to avoid information and have a lack of even a basic understanding of world events.

Well, that's their whole point about that elitist Obama. It's like the Cindy McCain videos...No, she's not running for public office so her views on anything are moot. But she doesn't even know what Roe -v- Wade means! She said she's pro-life, is NOT against overturning Roe -v- Wade, but that she believes it should be up to the states to decide. These people are in the political arena and they don't even have a basic understanding of what their position on certain issues even means. Again - Cindy's not a politician and she's not running for anything - but you can't give interviews supporting your husband's campaign and NOT know even the slightest significance of one of the landmark cases in US history.

farc: pretty slim foreign policy experience..... 'bout as much as Obama's...... only one is running for vice-president.....

Fail. Obama has been on the Senate Foreign Relations committee and the European Affairs committee. See? You guys can't even support your own people - all you can do is attack Obama without even knowing the slightest bit of what you're talking about.

Snarfangel: Yeah, but Canada is America's hat. Russia is Alaska's ushanka, which definitely sounds more foreigny.

What if we say Canada is America's chapeau?

jerry2a: Fail. Obama has been on the Senate Foreign Relations committee and the European Affairs committee.

Not to mention that as a candidate (so yeah, not official) he was able to travel abroad and have chats with foreign leaders, who were able to discuss some substance with him.

I'll admit that doesn't quite count as "foreign policy experience" but it's more than Palin has done, and PARTICULARLY when combined with the latest news stories that apparently she will not even do interviews with local American PRESS until she's "ready," the comparison doesn't come out in her favor.

jerry2a: And being Governor I wouldn't necessarily expect her to be on par with a Senator in knowing the finer points. Senators are involved in international issues, Governors are focused on running their state.

Also, this right there. The talking point seems to be that governors are more qualified due to their executive experience. I think that governors AND senators have very relevant experience, just DIFFERENT experience. The governor runs the show, but it's a local show. The senator is one of a horde of supporting actors, but is on the big stage in the big leagues. BOTH are relevant, I think.

But I also think that one's schooling is relevant, and president of the Harvard Law Review beats out BA from a second-tier state school, that's just how it is. Should we go there? Maybe not, but if people are going to bring up "CinC of the national guard" then heck yes we'll go there.

PC LOAD LETTER: Shrugging Atlas: How in the hell is this guy ahead in the polls?



The stupid is strong with America

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.
Winston Churchill

Palin: I told congress "No, thanks" on the bridge to nowhere.

Press: Uh, didn't Congress kill it first, and you kept the money anyway and built the road to nowhere instead (and . . . uh, haven't we been busting you on this lie for a week now)?

McCain: You're treating her unfairly because she's a woman.

- - -

McCain: And Governor Palin took that state jet and sold it on Ebay for a profit (and, by the way, Sarah, here's your private campaign jet).

Press: Uh, Senator, she listed it on Ebay, but didn't sell it there and it sold for a loss (and . . uh, haven't we been pointing this out to you for a week?)

McCain: You're being unfair to her because she's a woman and conservative.

- -

Palin: As governor I fought against earmarks and as your vice president I will continue to fight against earmarks.

Press: Uh, Governor - Hasn't Alaska received the highest amount of earmarked pork, per capita, of all the states and three of your very earmarked projects were specifically identified by Senator McCain as egregious examples of abuse (and haven't we been asking about this for a week now)?

McCain You're being mean to her just because she's a woman and a conservative and pretty.

- -

McCain/Palin can't tell the truth from their own spin.

propasaurus: sloppy shoes: I'd be willing to bet she didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shiite before 2 weeks ago.

And with McCain coaching her, chances are she still doesn't know the difference.



/I've been playing Mercenaries II all weekend, though I'd show some love for Peter "Mattias Nilsson" Stormare.

sloppy shoes: I was really hoping a journalist would point out to a McCain staffer that Moscow is on the other side of Russia.

I'm hoping that someone will ask Palin about Moscow, and she'll think they're asking about the University of Idaho.

/spent a weekend there once
//dear god why

Conman



/this pic has gotten rave reviews so far
//I gotta keep using it!

FishyFred:

/this pic has gotten rave reviews so far
//I gotta keep using it!

EWWWWWWWW....

At least Sen. Obama (D-Styrofoam Greek Columns) was a community organizer.