August 29, 2008
Sarah Palin on Higher Education
When Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate, ran for governor of Alaska two years ago she touted her support for the state’s university system, calling it a resource, an economic driver, and a cornerstone of pride for Alaskans.
Ms. Palin, who is the first woman and youngest person to have been elected governor of Alaska, has not made higher education an especially prominent priority of her administration. But the state’s government—which is enjoying an economic boom, thanks to rising oil and natural-gas prices—has recently been treating the University of Alaska system well, at least in terms of its budget.
For the 2008-9 budget year, the university system received a 7-percent increase in funds, only the fourth time in 20 years that the system has won an increase greater than the state’s fixed-cost requirement. The university plans to use the extra money to expand programs in high-demand fields, such as health and engineering, and to support research into climate change, energy, and biomedical sciences. The state also provided a fourfold increase in the university’s budget for deferred maintenance, which rose to $48-million.
When she was running for governor in 2006, Ms. Palin laid out several plans for the university system. She said her administration would provide “an appropriate level” of funds for the system, adding that it had been “consistently under-funded” since the mid-1980s.
She also touted the importance of generally supporting university research and the role of the system in work-force development, including preparing people for jobs building and operating a natural-gas pipeline. “The time is now,” she said on her “Sarah Palin for Governor” Web site, “to prepare the workforce for the gasline economy.”
She also promised to expand nursing programs, touted the need to create a state need-based aid program, and committed to helping reduce the university’s backlog of deferred-maintenance projects.
Governor Palin, 44, received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987.
Sara Hebel | Posted on Friday August 29, 2008 | PermalinkComments
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Clearly, she’s first-rate. She is also someone whose relative young age will allow her to run on her own in either 2012 or 2016.
— jim Aug 29, 01:55 PM #
“Clearly, she’s first-rate”? What are you refering to? What is so clear and what makes her first-rate? I see nothing because there is nothing. She was not in office long enough to do anything for higher education other than a few passing references. She may be a great person but I so no evidence one way or the other as to her ability to be vice president.
— dave Aug 29, 02:23 PM #
Puullleeeease. How many people are in her state, how many students were affected by her decisions?
How stupid does John McCain think we are, she’s nothing but a gimmick.
— AW Aug 29, 02:24 PM #
She should have stayed as governor of Alaska, where she can protect our environment, if she has the guts to do so – NO WAIT, she is a Republican who supports drilling in our national parks and whose husband has worked for BP.
She is completely unprepared to be the VP; she has not run a single thing for more than a year that requires her to be a leader, manager or even supervisor. She has little education beyond a BA, has not traveled, and has not been in any political circles except as a junior governor.
Let’s hope she is smarter than Dan Quayle and that if McCain is elected that he lives out his term. Picture this woman being Commander-in- Chief or a negotiator with the leaders of the world – Putin and the maniac from Iran will eat her for breakfast.
— Good Grief Aug 29, 02:25 PM #
I suspect most Governors would be “first rate” if they had an abundance of cash to spread around like AK!
— Barbara Shell Aug 29, 02:26 PM #
I think this choice will end up insulting women and conservatives rather than the opposite.
— geoz Aug 29, 02:30 PM #
She would be a failing heartbeat away from the presidency and her entire life experience extends no further than Alaska and Idaho? Those state’s combined population would not match that of an averaged sized city. She may be a nice person, who would be fun to hangout with, but she is not ready to be VP and certainly not President. Has she ever been outside the US beyond Canada?
— shocked Aug 29, 02:32 PM #
Let me sum up the comments: neither Palin nor McCain are Obama.
Who but Obama can fix this mess?
Who but Obama can make us joyful again?
Who but Obama can give the Nation of Islam the Power of the White House?
Who but Obama can walk on water…oh, wait that was someone else. It’s okay, though— I don’t think any Democrats have realized that yet.
— Thomas Magnum Aug 29, 02:34 PM #
What is wrong with a hope and dream of women who are hunters and caretakers, who have husbands for 20 years and not 2, who have children and careers, who are elected executives and not appointed committemen and who will fight against lobbyists. What a vision, what a hope , what a dream and what Change!!!!
— JAS Aug 29, 02:35 PM #
Some of you liberal thinkers are far too predictable … attack a member of the very demographic group on which the Presidency depends, and less then 12 hours since the announcement. Smart. Real smart.
— Zach Aug 29, 02:37 PM #
Well I have seen her on television and looked up her record. She will do very well against Biden who is a complete fake. Beginning with his complete hair transplant to his plagerism in 1988 he is a fake person. She will blister his tail.
Good choice Mccain.
— Fred D. Aug 29, 02:41 PM #
Now we’re going to throw rocks at HER inexperience. At least she has experience in managing more than a Senate office. The Alaska university system receives a 7% increase in funds and a 400% increase in deferred maintenance during her tenure, and she had nothing to do with it?
— EJ Aug 29, 02:41 PM #
[quote #8] Who but Obama can give the Nation of Islam the Power of the White House?[endquote]
The American people could conceivably give a member of the Nation of Islam the power of the White House, but I can’t really see any of them making it that far. There probably aren’t two of them among all the state legislators, even. (And I don’t know of one.) So maybe Mr. Magnum (really?) is just a jackass.
Well, scratch that—maybe just a mule, half-horse and half jackass. Because it is true that Obama is not Palin, is not McCain and can go a long way toward fixing “this mess.” On the other side of the ledger, though, Obama is not likely to make Mr. Magnum (really?) joyful.
— BertW Aug 29, 02:44 PM #
She was an advocate for so-called “Creation Science” during her campaign:
http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/story/8347904p-8243554c.html
For me that eliminates any supposed support she might show for education, higher or otherwise.
— JJB Aug 29, 02:46 PM #
Could someone from Alaska, who actually knows something about this governor, contribute something of substance to this discussion?
— MA Aug 29, 02:47 PM #
I just don’t see a two-year governor of a wilderness state “blistering Biden’s tail.”
And exactly how big is the “Alaska system”?
— BA Aug 29, 02:51 PM #
JAS asked what’s wrong with women who “have husbands for 20 years and not 2, who have children and careers, who are elected executives and not appointed committeemen and who will fight against lobbyists.” Are you describing Hillary, or Palin?
Palin may have done some good things for her university system – but she’s in a small state, with a limited number of people. She has NO international experience, NO major presence in domestic policy, and NO experience working with the Senate or House. One of the key roles played by the VP is to work with the Senate to support the President’s policies; how well can she carry that out?
I suspect McCain was hoping to appeal to what his team sees as a vast sea of women voters disappointed that Hillary wasn’t chosen as Obama’s VP. He hasn’t realized that for most of us it wasn’t all about her as a woman, but rather her policies and what she stands for – and that McCain/Palin is in no way a palatable substitute, while Obama/Biden is!
— CC Aug 29, 02:56 PM #
So, 2 years of executive experience as governor is not as good as 2 years of experience in a non-executive position of Senator (Obama)? Give me a break. Obama has not initiated a single piece of legislation. His record is zero. The Democrat party would have a winner if the ticket were Biden/Clinton, with Biden at the top.
— WEJ Aug 29, 03:02 PM #
You folks (like “Dave”) who say she has no substantive record or much to show for could easily change the “she” to “he” and be referring to Obama.
— Mike Aug 29, 03:06 PM #
The assessment of Palin should have NOTHING to do with being liberal or conservative. Look at the facts… The point is that Palin was chosen not because of what she brings to the job, but simply because she is a woman who happens to hold a conservative view point. That is simply not enough. I would be sceaming if she were placed on the Democratic ticket, too.
One might argue that Obama was “chosen” because he is black, but that is not true because he was vetted throughout the nation in the primaries and voted for by more than 20M people. Palin has been vetted through exactly 710,000 Americans – the population of Alaska and the population of Wasilla, Alaska combined. She has been vetted by fewer than 1M people in this country and has managed a government that has fewer people in it than the administrations of most major universities in this country.
It is not a shock that she received funding for a state that has underrepresented
minorities and it is good that Alaska received these funds.
Obama’s experience in the Senate is not about managing his staff… rather it has led him to see the numerous issues confronting the entire country – not just a state of less than 1M. It has allowed him to travel many times to other countries (not just as a visit with the governors)and interact deeply with the people of this country.
It is not enough to simply hold an ideology. If Obama simply graduated from law school, was mayor of Fox Lake IL (population of 9000) and worked with the poor for a few years, and was governor of Wyoming, I would be screaming about him too.
Of course, this is the country that voted Bush in once. and had his cronies get him in the other time. I wish I could believe that we are smart enough to see through this charade…
And, Fred D. , she will be eaten alive by Biden on foreign policy. I am not sure what a hair transplant has to do with it.
— Good Grief Aug 29, 03:09 PM #
Alaskans seem to like her a lot…(she has an 80% approval rating) or at least the fact that she’s one republican in the state who is not corrupt. You have to remember that Alaskans are very anti-establishment and while they don’t have a problem electing someone with charisma, a clean record and NRA membership (but little experience) I don’t think the rest of the country will follow.
— Token Alaskan Aug 29, 03:09 PM #
She is the first Republican to stand up and blow the whistle on, as she said in her speech today, the good old boys running Alaska. They are on their way out now, in part thanks to Sarah Palin.
— HK from Alaska Aug 29, 03:09 PM #
Just read this article again and perhaps you will begin to appreciate the bias of the press against women candidates. The journalist indicates that when Palin ran she “touted her support” for the state’s higher education system and that spending for higher education went up during her tenure, but credits this to the “state’s government” (as though that is something other than the governor). This election has been nothing short of a fantastic testimony to anti-woman bias of the press. Of course we have heard more in the past two hours about the need for “qualified candidates” when it comes to the VP than we heard in a year about the “qualifications” of another candidate that is not even a heart beat away from the presidency. I will not be surprised to hear her accused of “throwing the kitchen sink” at her opponents very soon. Shame on you, Democratic Party, for your participation in this whole fiasco that is the election. A plague on both your houses.
— Amanda Aug 29, 03:11 PM #
Amanda, indeed, there has been much anti-women bias in these elections and I, for one, am heartbroken that Hillary is not on the Dem ticket. But, do you really want the party in office whose Supreme court selections ruled against a woman who received less pay than her male counterparts because did not object 90 days after the fact when she didn’t realize she was being paid less??? Would you vote for a person who refused to raise the minimum wage over and over, knowing that many single moms have to work at minimum wage jobs??? Would you really vote for McCain-Palin because there’s woman on the ticket? Voting for a woman just because she is a woman is just as sexist and stupid as NOT voting for a woman because she is a woman.
— sad, but still Dem Aug 29, 03:22 PM #
Hmmm. So if we sum up the criticism expressed in these messages we get the message that the Democrats are unhappy that the Republicans have picked a (1) woman (2) governor of an energy-important state (3) friend of higher education (4) individual with a strong ethics record (5) individual with a high approval rate based on public service (6) high personal regard for diversity and minorities (7) demonstrated personal courage and compassion (8) and from a small town. Real smart. Really smart, given their problems with women voters. Look at a map of the United States and see where just these values resonate with voters. Hint: West of Boston, New York, and Washington, East of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.
— Publius Aug 29, 03:25 PM #
Amanda, #23, I totally agree!!! I’ll never watch Chris Matthews after what he did to Hillary. Back to Obama’s exceptional “experience” over Palin’s: He was an associate atty for 3 years and then of counsel for 6 years before he allowed his license to lapse while in the Illinois Senate. Big whoop-dee-do-dah!! What kind of job was that when his predecessor was Alice Palmer. Is she heading up international affairs? No because she wouldn’t have the experience. Ok, so 4 years ago Obama gets elected to the U.S. Senate and does not lead, but is a “member” to a handful of committees. He was, however, chairman to the Senate Foreign Relations SUBccommittee on European Affairs (like they are going to start a war with us?). If energy is the key issue in this election (and a woman’s issue), I think McCain picked the right person for the right time. Go McCain!!
P.S. I think any American who has a family member fighting in Iraq or anywhere for that matter can definitley get a good dose of international politics without sitting on a committee.
— JAS Aug 29, 03:25 PM #
It really is hard to believe that 72-year-old John McCain, the oldest nominee ever, picks 44-year-old Sarah Palin (likely the least qualified of any person on a presidential/vice presidential ticket since Dan (potatoe) Quayle (well, maybe George W. Bush could compete as well, but half the country only sees that in retrospect). How can he ever attack Barack Obama with the swiftboat inexperience attack ads anymore? Her husband works for BP?? How deep does McCain want to be in the pockets of BIG OIL?
JUDGMENT truly has become the big question about McCain at this point. There is no question he picked her as a ploy to win back Hillary supporters that united with OBAMA at the DNC. Aside from being a woman, how do you differentiate her from Huckabee? He is a very popular male candidate for president with a long record (as distasteful as it may be to many moderate Republicans and most Democrats), so why not pick him??? This is UNBELIEVABLY transparent and will be the folly of the RNC media coverage and the rest of the campaign.
I can’t wait to see her debate Joe Biden. She is going to get CREAMED. It will be difficult for Joe to avoid LAUGHING at her lack of mastery of anything related to national security, international relations, foreign policy, and the judiciary. The moderator for the debate will undoubtedly hammer home at least a few tough questions that she will not be able to answer. What a JOKE. It just smacks of desperation….and now comes the landslide…If Obama doesn’t win this election by a landslide there could only be two explanations: (1) Diebold has the vote fixed in PA, OH, and FL; and/or (2) the American public really is as gullible and self-destructive as it seems to the rest of the WORLD.
— RLW Aug 29, 03:33 PM #
CLEARLY FIRST RATE? What are you refering to? What is so clear and what makes him first-rate? I see nothing because there is nothing. He was not in office long enough to do anything for higher education other than a few passing references. He may be a great person but I see no evidence one way or the other as to his ability to be president.
— formerly known as . . . . Aug 29, 03:33 PM #
McCain is trying to go after former Clinton supports with his choice of a woman. This is sad and insulting. What is he thinking? that we are stupid?! He appears to believe that one woman is as good as another. Swap one for the other they are all the same! The same kind of chauvinistic crap that has defined him for 40 years, just ask his first wife.
— sad Aug 29, 03:37 PM #
Chris M is a pimp for Obama and that is true. I watched msnbc for several years but will never again. I thought Fox was partisan but NBC is terrible now. I have emailed 2,000 friends a list of advertisers on NBC. We are going to stop that pimping network in its tracks. Go Leno!
Good for Mccain for getting a young and great governor to run with him.
Obama has no experience worth mentioning. He voted present more than either yes or no in the Illinois senate. Now he has missed more votes in the US senate than any other first term senator in history.
Voting present and not voting is no record of experience.
Obama is a fake, a glib Jesse Jackson.
— Fred D. Aug 29, 03:39 PM #
#29—Palin is not a woman just as good as another—she is way,way,way better! She’s a hunter, not a channel suiter. She knows how to keep a man and a career. She knows how to raise a family, send a boy off to war and give new life—-all while looking that good! God bless her and what an inspiration to all women. Now let’s talk about her EXECUTIVE resume. She got voted as a governor of a key energy state. Obama’s elected post for 8 years was to legislate for the 13th District which in my mind does not involve any exceptional geopolitical issues. Where’s Obama’s executive experience? As a “director” of a church-based community organization for 3 years? Teaching school? Going to Bali to write a book? An associate attorney for 3 years? At least Abraham Lincoln was a captain.
— JAS Aug 29, 03:54 PM #
JAS – what are you saying??? I had a dad in WWI while I was a child. That does not mean my mom knows enough foreign policy to be VP. But she does have a higher degree, more engagement with the political process and more experience managing both people and situations than Palin has. But she is a Democrat and, in your opinion, that would make her too inexperienced – even though Palin has less experience.
Let’s face it – Palin is on this ticket and you are supporting her because she is a Republican, an NRA enthusiastic who is pro-life, conservative and believes that God created frogs on one of the seven days of Creation. (God did create frogs, but God did it through evoution!) It matters not to you or the rest of the Republican Party cronies if she has any experience at all. She could be Godzilla and you would still be voting for her. So, just be honest and do not make her out to be more than she is. Obama recognized that he needed a more experienced person on the ticket (DUH.. so did Bush and that’s why he selected Cheney so let’s not be so hypocritical when condemning Obama for his lack of experience – Bush has never had to anything alone in his entire life; he’s been propped up since the day he was born).
And to Publius, we are not complaining about Palin; we are rejoicing.
— sad, but still Dem Aug 29, 03:54 PM #
#32, Where was your mom a governor?
— JAS Aug 29, 04:02 PM #
Wishes put forth as predictions is foolishness. I will offer one prediction: this will stir up things and get the race going. Beyond that, we’ll all just have to see how it turns it. But I don’t think it would be a national disaster regardless of which ticket gets elected.
— ech Aug 29, 04:34 PM #
She is attractive and has limited experience. She is a woman to pander to the Clinton supporters. She has five children, he youngest of whom is four months old and suffers with Downs Syndrome.
I saw the theater this afternoon. The newborn was on stage, cradled in someone else’s arms having her existence and medical problems callously used by McCain and her mother as political currency.
I instantly dubbed the Republican ticket the Fox Dream Team, an old geezer and hot young woman.
Bill O’Reilly anyone?
Gag me with a spoon! As a working woman who raised her children and protected them I find this revolting.
— realist Aug 29, 04:39 PM #
Boyee Obama Hussein Barry is in trouble now. A woman with more executive experience and who knows what she thinks is great. Now that Obama and biden, the faker with a hair transplant, have real competition. She has more executive experience than Biden and Obama combined. Let the media roll and show the fake Obama for what he is ..a non voting member of the senate who is glib and not a real american. Lets put America first now.
— Fred D. Aug 29, 04:45 PM #
Thanks #35, and please keep it up. Your post typifies the yellowed-fangs-bared response we have come to expect from the Left, which has been essential to giving us victory in five of the last seven elections!
— Publius Aug 29, 05:16 PM #
My thoughts on a possible Reps strategy:
1) The Reps know their ticket is almost certainly a losing one this year. I say this not as a diss against McCain/Palin — I just mean that Americans will vote against the ruling party in social and econ. conditions as horrible as they are. Hence a Dems. victory, even if a slim one.
2) Given their prospects, they are using their almost certain loss to build ahead to 2012 or 2016 — by cultivating Palin, now a total unknown and puzzling choice, but one that will thrust her in the public limelight, push her into new positions, and will make a great candidate years from now: “experienced” (whatever that means) Rep. woman in a state that is central to the energy debates that will dominate politcs more and more.
Reps will lose, as they should after 8 dismal years, but look out her on future R tickets…
— doondoe Aug 29, 05:24 PM #
I’m an Alaskan and I work at the largest of our state university campuses in Fairbanks. I am dismayed by her nomination. The only good news for Alaska is that she will be gone until November. And if she gets elected, she will be gone for good. Good riddance!
— Glow Aug 29, 06:23 PM #
You have been all fooled. Palin is Harriet Myers in disguise. “w” doesn’t give up – and he knows that McCain’s eyesight is very poor. She was an easy sell to the gullible McCain.
— Bill Aug 29, 06:35 PM #
The mainstream media cannot say it enough, that her lack of experience negates Obama’s lack of experience. But she’s not running against Obama! McCain is, and he has the superior experience. Furthermore, VPs rarely get to be more than a heartbeat away, even when the President is as old as Reagan.
It’s interesting that Hillary, once again, is overshadowed by the “other woman”
— MR Aug 29, 06:43 PM #
For all of her noise about ethics in Alaska, Palin is not likely to emerge unscathed from the current Alaska legislature’s special investigation of her firing the state’s top law enforcement official (her appointee, highly respected throughout the state) when he refused to order the dismissal of a state trooper who was Palin’s former brother-in-law (involved in a rancorous divorce with her sister). Palin said she couldn’t see that she’d done anything wrong, even though it was confirmed that her husband had made such calls and a member of her staff was recorded making such a request. She gave only the reason that she wanted to see the Division “go in a different direction.” Her subsequent appointee was discovered to have been involved in a minor harrassment scandal and was forced to resign two weeks later. She has proven herself to be a politician who understands how power can be used and how issues of ethics can be used to realize her own goals, but who is short on understanding the laws and ethical principles that a civil society develops to curb raw ambition. Check out related stories on the Anchorage Daily News web-site. The ADN has treated Palin very gently over the past two years: she’s made for attractive press. Yet even that publication has called attention to her lack of judgment in the ethics question at issue. See http://www.adn.com/news/politics/story/510080.html
— Dismayed Alaskan Woman Aug 29, 06:45 PM #
#42, from that link: “Before she was governor, Palin pushed for a trooper investigation of Wooten over a number of matters, including using a Taser on his stepson, illegally shooting a moose and accusations of driving drunk…” What’s your point? She looks to have shown exceptional judgment that child advocates, MADD and PETA can appreciate.
— JAS Aug 29, 06:56 PM #
lets be fair. I we beleive in Barack —she has just as much opportunity to run for an office. We cannot be hypocritical.
— osiris Aug 29, 08:06 PM #
Yeah baby. Diane Keaton with Dick Cheney’s brain. Show me the button.
— Zealot Aug 29, 09:42 PM #
I think it’s important to consider how Gov Palin’s experience, educational qualifications and life experience have, or have not prepared her to be president. Prior to the 18 months in charge of Alaska’s state government, she was the mayor of a town of 6,500 people. Prior to that she served on the town council, and I believe that she was at one point on the state’s ethics board. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and has apparently lived her entire life in Alaska or Idaho, both fine states, but perhaps not representative of the broader tableau of American culture.
Does being the governor of a small (in terms of population) state for 18 months and mayor of a town of 6,500 people prepare one to make decisions that will impact the entire world? Do her supporters really feel that she is prepared to lead this nation if, god forbid, something were to happen to Sen. McCain? I cannot conceive how anyone with so little life experience could possibly be ready for a job that has defeated much better prepared individuals. It concerns me greatly, beyond the politics of the situation, that we as a nation might well entrust ourselves to someone so wholly unqualified both in terms of prior work and life experience. This is nothing against her as a person, but rather just the simple truth that being governor of Alaska, mayor of one’s hometown of 6,500, possessing a BA in journalism and being a mom does not qualify you to run the most complex organization in the world. What a disasterous selection.
— Holmes Finch Aug 29, 09:57 PM #
#38, doondoe, I find your analysis very interesting and insightful. Why didn’t Obama pick Hillary Clinton as his VP? Or should I ask why didn’t Caroline Kennedy feel that Hillary could do the job? Was it the ambassadorship in the Court of St. James? Now with Palin on the radar, win or no win, Hillary is at best a contender and at worst, a washed up. What sort of political judgment did Obama display not to pick a woman with 18 million votes for one with…I don’t even know. If I were Hillary, I would feel boxed in and betrayed, but that’s politics.
#46, Have you even read anything that I have written? Obama was a director of a charity based organization on the south side. How does that compare to being a Mayor? How does being a U.S. Senator for 4 years compare to being a Governor for 2 years in which things got DONE? I’m scratching my head asking myself, “what am I missing?”— JAS Aug 29, 10:11 PM #
But seriously, who knew Diane had a sister who was the mayor of Northern Exposure?? OK, OK, not funny I guess. Remember all the kooky people on that show? Would they be in the cabinet now or what? What I don’t understand is how McCain can be leaning toward Lieberman (pro-choice) or Giuliani (pro-Giuliani) or Romney (actually a pretty good pick probably) then pick Annie Oakley . . . It just doesn’t seem serious so it’s hard for me to be. . . I mean I think McCain himself would be pretty good, pretty middle of the road but this just seems like it’s out of left field so it’s hard to be serious….
— Zealot Aug 29, 10:21 PM #
Well # 35 realist you have problems with mentally challenged children. I’ve known 3 personally and the have lived wonderful lives. I think parents that love and care for these children are great. Palin has governed a state for 2 yrs. She has taken care of her family. She also has accomplished more then Obama has ever accomplished. I’ll vote for the McCain ticket.
— GJS Aug 29, 10:25 PM #
At what point does the moose walk through… oh yeah, when it does she’ll shoot it. Better put the kiddies to bed.
— Zealot Aug 29, 10:27 PM #
sigh
All y’all who point out that Alaska is an itty bitty state just don’t get the complexities of a state that’s actually far, far larger than any of the “lower 48”, has five major climate regions, a huge infrastructure to maintain, and constant battles among the few of us who do call it home. No, she doesn’t have a huge resume, but please quit negating it because it’s Alaska…we don’t want to have to send her down to show the Lesser 48 how it’s done.
I actually sat beside her when she presented my college’s commencement address a couple of years ago. She’s an intelligent, witty lady with a lot of energy and charisma. She’s also very ethical…please, try to read between the lines on the story about Trooper Wooten. I don’t think the Anchorage Daily Rag is being uncharacteristically nice to her; on the contrary, they’ve gone about as far in digging up mud as they can.
Others have already quoted some of what she’s done for the University of Alaska system. She also, however, recently gave the University of Alaska, Anchorage campus nursing program $20 million to expand. Yes, I believe it’s fair to say she has proven that she supports education.
Me? I’m probably still voting for Obama. I just can’t stand to see folks blabbering on about stuff they obviously aren’t knowledgeable on.
— Tired in Alaska Aug 29, 11:25 PM #
So what do we know about the candidates and higher education?
Obama is following the prototype Democratic Party plan: simply throw more tax payer dollars at the issue through the HOPE and DREAM Acts, fill state coffers with matching federal funds (i.e. your money) to improve “college preparedness” and implement the American Opportunity Tax Credit (which is simply a retread the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit, but only with a higher, but still modest, payout and more limited access for upper middle class families).
A tiny fraction of our money will inevitably do some good, but the bulk of the problems in higher ed don’t have to do with “affordability.”
McCain has said almost nothing about higher education, but his plan will likely involve making college savings “easier.”
According to this story, Palan doesn’t appear to have done anything particularly spectacular for higher ed in Alaska.
Oh well, both sides appear to be equally uninspired when it comes to higher ed. What’s new?
— It doesn't matter Aug 30, 01:20 AM #
Re: JAS’ question about what he is missing… He is comparing running the state with running the country. It does not surprise me that most Republicans negate Senate experience and hail State experience – the Republicans are not fond of centralized government while the Democrats traditionally have favored it. This is probably one issue where there will never be agreement.
But here is something I offer that is different – Gov Palin has met McCain exactly twice before becoming his selection – once for a first meeting and once to seal the deal in AZ. This means several things: McCain has no idea of who she really is except by recommendation, which is scary because she would be his right hand woman; she has no idea of who he really is, how he analyzes issues, how he makes decisions ; she has only once met a major player in the US Senate and a primary candidate running for her own Party several times only once, pointing to the fact that she has not been privy to any of the major decision-making events in her party and has yet to develop deep roots into the party. This selection seems premature to me.
Gov Palin is a very bright, articulate, person who has done a good job in the opinion of many of her fellow Alaskans. She has made hard personal choices in her life. These cannot be taken away from her.
I guess the debate(s) will show what she and the other three candidates know about the federal government, what they think the national issues are and their approach to foreign policy.
— DrFunZ Aug 30, 01:48 AM #
@JAS (too many posts to #):
i’m glad you find my post interesting, but i can’t say i feel the same about your posts. you are plastering the comments board with inane questions about “court of st. james” and similar non-issues that don’t even make sense much of the time. i suppose that in a way your tactic of trolling for emotional responses is in line with some of the tactics of your presidential pick. temporarily effective, perhaps, but not conducive to actual discussion.
take care,
— doondoe Aug 30, 08:01 AM #
I do believe Alaska’s University system would have had all of the windfalls regardless of who was the Governor. The oil companies did not ask Palin if they could make the profits on her behalf. The biggest issue I see in McCain choosing Palin as his running mate, is McCain’s age. He is 72, both his father and grandfather died at 70. He has had Melanoma, what is it now, three times? With one time being at Stage II. Chances of it coming back are really high and it can be fatal. Is Palin, a person with a Bachelor’s in Journalism qualified, at all, to run this country? Because she can run a household, is she ready to run this country? And she has an infant special needs child, God bless the sweet thing, but you cannot tell me, that this will not interfere with her duties as VP. This woman is not qualified, nor should she ever have been chosen. While I respect the position she holds as Governor, I do not respect McCain’s choice. And to think that the McCain campaign remotely thinks he will sway female Clinton supporters, which I am not, to vote for her because she is female and a mom, they are sadly mistaken. Bad choice John.
— Jean Aug 30, 08:18 AM #
This is not a matter of politics, nor a criticism of Palin. I’m sure she is a very good person. But governing this country is serious business. Politics aside, Obama was president of Harvard Law Review and professor of constitutional law at U. of Chicago; this man is brilliant and extremely well prepared. Palin is a sports journalist who was part-time mayor of a tiny town; she was picked not for her qualifications but to win votes from the Christian right and the disaffected Clinton supporters. The gimmick may work and McCain/Palin may win—but what a dangerous situation.
— John Aug 30, 12:12 PM #
Both democratic and republican bases put value in having tons of kids it seems like. Maybe that will help advance a progressive agenda. Me, I have healthcare, but does anyone care if anyone else has healthcare and is walking around with TB or the bubonic plague? Over time, the country has become more progressive, slowly granting rights to those who never had them, slowly recognizing that the words that are in the Constitution, when literally applied, make it difficult to rationalize doing anything else. Whether the republicans or democrats win in November, both parties are advancing substantially more progressive platforms than either one would have adopted 60 years ago. 2nd, The question that continues to bother me about Palin, however, is the issue that has embroiled the current administraiton in its current international crisis. When George Bush took office every indication was he would be relatively isolationist; he said he did not think it was America’s role to intervene in others’ politics. What is one to expect from McCain – Palin? Would they attack Russia? Iran? What about Afghanistan? Would we be attacked; I mean, won’t we eventually be attacked if we keep this up? Isn’t it good to be safe, at home, with one’s children too? What would we do if the Russians got involved in the drug cartel wars going on down in Mexico? Would everyone be comfortable with that? I don’t understand the Republican worldview these days is all I’m trying to say. I don’t think there is one. At least with Obama we know he will withdraw from Iraq, which they want, and go after Bin Laden, which I don’t know about you, but I want. I’m a veteran, I’m educated, I vote, I’m national security conscious, and I don’t like discrimination based on race, color, religion, ethnic origin, or any insinuations regarding discrimination on those uncontrollable human factors i.e. ones we’re born with. There are mean, nasty people on both sides, but what’s the solution? Killing more people? I say we stay out of ALL wars unless attacked, in which case we F***ing destroy whoever did it. I don’t care if it’s someone born with two heads with big orange noses on them; if they have a solution to the economic, political, international and social issues we face, let’s go for it. I have health insurance, I care about my safety. Maybe she’s not Annie Oakley but just because you know how to use a gun doesn’t mean you have to love it so much. It’s no more a platform than liking fast cars or basketball. It’s a sport, and sometimes an unpleasant necessity.Even if you’re against social programs because they’re not helping you, because you’re rich, it’s a good idea to have them because otherwise the poor people don’t feel so good, they rob you, they hurt you, they carry diseases, they act bad in public, they get foreclosed on and ruin the economy. Even if it’s not because you genuinely care about other human beings, it’s a good idea to care how others lives are working out, or their lives will start getting in the way of your American Dream.
— Zealot Aug 30, 12:44 PM #
Let me say first that I’m not enthralled with the Democratic ticket. I also liked Hillary, but I don’t think any ticket with her on it can win in this country. The conservatives (aka Rove & Co.) did too good a job on the Clintons, making many people hate them with a vengeance that, unfortunately, will never be overcome.
If the McCain-Palin ticket wins this election, a lot of us will be in the same unpleasant position we were in with Bush-Cheney: praying every night that nothing would happen to the man at the top of the ticket for fear of what would happen when the VP took over. (Of course, we all know that Cheney was doing a large chunk of the governing behind the scenes, in any case.)
As a woman, I am insulted by the Palin nomination, which is an obvious ploy to attract women voters solely on the “first” claim and to detract from the excitement engendered by the first African American presidential candidate. The fact that McCain only met with her once and only spoke with her once on the phone before announcing the nomination proves to me that this choice was not based on her capability (particularly in national and international affairs), but rather on her gender and her appeal to fundamentalist conservatives. She does not have the necessary experience, and she is not going to be able to get it in the next two months. And McCain is no proponent of women’s rights in any area.
— Cariola Aug 30, 12:49 PM #
I really look forward to Joe Biden and Sarah Palin’s debate on October 2nd.
— Nathan Aug 30, 01:05 PM #
Obviously she isn’t that into education..because she her self only holds a ba. and that is only in journalism..(oh i forgot a minor in political science) I as a 22 year old I have a higher level of education and a more significant degree (History) for the job of v.p. And as far as her being a feminist goes..Andrea Dowrkin and most feminist would/should be ashamed to have her labeled as a “feminist.” I have one question..has anyone seem the movie idocracy??
— Hope Aug 30, 01:12 PM #
What a bunch of elitist comments.
For once, we have a candidate who isn’t a millionaire, ivy league graduate, skull-n-bones society member, ceo, major share holder, son of an embassador, or admiral, or whatever.
She’s a normal person who has to worry about her mortgage, feeding her family, taking care of their health, saving for the future, etc. IOW, she’s JUST LIKE US!!!
How many damn times do people complain about out of touch politicians, but we keep electing them! Now’s our chance to break that cycle!
And for all those who have criticized her for her husband’s PART-TIME oil job; do you think all oil company employees are evil?
Every oil rig worker, truck driver, supply clerk, etc?
He works on the North Slope oil fields seasonally. He’s not a board member or policy maker. He’s a blue collar guy. A NORMAL person. I used to work on the North Slope during summers. AM I evil?
And finally, how often do we the public complain about politicians treating ethichs violations as an opportunity to advance their own party? Democrats only cry foul when Republicans get caught, and vice-versa.
Palin has a TRACK RECORD of going after her own party bosses when they were wrong. She fights them, and proves her point, with evidence.
I would rather have someone who’s underqualified (according to you) but will work for US, than someone highly qualified, but who works for him or her self.
— Leaford Aug 30, 03:19 PM #
Leaford, you’re forgetting one thing: she’s not on her own anymore, she’s McCain’s VP choice, and I don’t expect her to be taking HIM on any time soon.
— Cariola Aug 30, 04:44 PM #
McCain’s choice for VP is most bizarre—not that Obama’s is much better
— Jon Aug 30, 05:12 PM #
She is just what we need in a VP! Go Sarah!
— Anita Aug 30, 05:20 PM #
Cariola, If you’re worrying about McCain’s integrity, his VP pick is a moot point for you, isn’t it? ;)
But as to what she would do in such a hypothetical situation, Palin in the past resigned from a state commission appointment when she felt other members of the board were corrupt, and then filed formal complaints against them, resulting in resignations and fines.
I actually WOULD expect her to take HIM on if she saw need. It’s in her character and in her past record.
— Leaford Aug 30, 05:48 PM #
Palin and I have a lot in common. I also have an undergraduate degree in journalism. In high school, I was homecoming queen, voted Most Popular Girl and was runner-up as Most Prettiest Girl. I was an excellent athlete, too. Like, Palin, I have been married more than 20 years to the same man and have three children, one of whom has special needs. I am also a basketball mom. I haven’t been a governor, but I have been a college professor and am now a college administrator which means that I have more than 20 years of political and bureaucratic experience. And my campus has 10,000 students, bigger than Palin’s hometown. So, I think I, too, am qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
Obama/Tracy 08?
— Tracy Aug 30, 08:33 PM #
JAS, Fred D, and Anita, I second what you are all saying; I am glad to see some common sense out there. I wanted to write because, aside from whatever else all of this might mean, I can’t ever remember a woman in politics who I would actually want to get naked with!!
GOP in 08!!
Blackhawks in 09!!
Fix me turkey pot pie!!
— Mark Arroyo Aug 30, 09:00 PM #
Mrs. Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate, is an intelligent, dedicated, and practical person. She is pretty too. John McCain made the best choice in his career in choosing Sarah Palin. She will be the best candidate for VP. I hope the ticket will win in November 2008.
— kvc Aug 30, 09:10 PM #
After reading these wide-ranging comments, what amazes and deeply disappoints me is to see supposedly intelligent and well-educated persons, on both sides of the issue, who express such uncritical views laced with so many biases and unexamined prejudices. No wonder American higher education is in so much trouble.
— DrKAJ Aug 30, 09:58 PM #
I doubt very much that she would be the VP nominee if she were an ugly, older woman with the same CV and no Downs Syndrome kid. Her “executive experience” which the Republicans are touting consists of what? Being mayor of a town smaller than most high schools and less than 2 years as Governor of a state with less than a million people and a huge budget. Hardly prepares a person for Washington.
— J Bo Aug 30, 10:40 PM #
I don’t think you’re going to have to wait for any debate with Sen. Biden. The first decent SNL skit with Tina Fey will destroy her, just like Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s description of Dewey as the “little man on top of the wedding cake” did in Truman’s opponent.
— A. DeAngelis Aug 30, 11:06 PM #
I am sure now That Democrat will WIN….after McCain pick the Palin Girl….ex beauty queen, a working mom of 4 or 5? She should be at home taking care of her kids….
— Pinggie Aug 30, 11:20 PM #
PALIN IS CORRUPT! She is currently under investigation for firing the state police chief when he refused to buckle to her extreme pressure to fire Palin’s former brother-in-law due to a personal vendetta. But the real question is: what about her poor little baby, which is now going to be w/o a mama, whether it’s b/c she goes to jail from the current investigation into her abuse of power, or b/c of the campaign.
She thinks that creationism should be taught in schools as science. She ran a very small town, smaller than Obama’s district when he was an Illinois state senator. She sued the Bush administration when the fed govt declared polar bears an endangered species. She was a sports writer, and only has a bachelor’s in journalism. She is NOT qualified to be VP. Period.
— ThinkOfChildren Aug 31, 03:30 AM #
From a foreigner’s perspective, one who works in the USA, it is patently obvious: she is a bone for the right wing religious conservative dog to chew on, and a rhetorical tool to create a “maverick” image for McCain, and mainly that.
American looks inward continues on…don’t people in the US know that the country is situated in a global system? This does nothing to enhance and enable the USA to act within that system…who cares what she did for higher education – it is insignificant as her major weakness is the complete and utter lack of prep for foreign policy challenges.
But, then again, why not have a blank slate, a sponge, that some groups can fashion from the start…ahhh…
— Amazed Aug 31, 08:09 AM #
Palin is frighteningly unqualified to be VP- that’s clear. The political question is: would McCain have picked a man with such a background? Of course not. What a farce. Women in America deserve much better. And what an insult to all the Republican women, whom we also know nothing about, but who would have been qualified. Palin, run your state, be a mother to your newborn and 4 other kids, and earn some respect before you try to grab this crown.
— Brett Reichert Aug 31, 03:24 PM #
Ridiculing Joe Biden’s hair transplant elevates irrelevance to a new level.
Gov. Palin seems yet another insurance policy choice by the Republicans
(think Quayle the nincompoop and Cheney the loose cannon). Sen. Biden
could take over the presidency, if necessary, without missing a beat; Gov.
Palin would face a learning curve steeper than a salmon run. Given her
aggressive creationism, academics should consider what sort of policies
she would support in science education. The ongoing investigation of
her apparent vendetta against her former brother-in-law makes her
choice by McCain even more puzzling than her obvious inexperience.
Then again, McCain graduated at the bottom of his class at Annapolis;
Obama served as president of the Harvard Law Review. Sniping aside,
a party whose minions have at least quintupled the national debt since
Reagan took over with papa Bush as his sidekick while railing against
“tax and spend” Democrats—a party whose most recent demagogue
has lied us into a war whose costs amount to 40% of the present debt
and which has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people—does
not deserve yet another opportunity to exacerbate its disasters. John
McCain already has at least seven houses; if Americans make the White
House his eighth, we should prepare to hide the mirrors so we don’t
have to look ourselves in the face every morning.
— Daniel Zimmerman Aug 31, 07:53 PM #
Any graduate from Harvard Law School (Obama) is qualified to run this country from day one. That education prepares you for leadership.
Palin’s B.A. in communications from Idaho is a joke. She ran a town that is smaller than most academic universities. She was elected mayor with 909 votes. That is a total of 909 votes. Vice President Palin? Her interns will be better educated than she is. Obama taught law school. Palin isn’t even qualifed to be one of his students.
— jollyrancher Sep 1, 05:44 AM #
I’m amazed that so many (otherwise reasonable?) people in this country hold ”just like us” to be an acceptable substitute for above average intelligence, ability, and competence. How is it that being disaffected with politics as usual automatically translates into anti-intellectualism? Granted that education alone is no guarantor of judgment, shouldn’t we still demand to be led by the best prepared among us? It’s a bit of a stretch – to say the least – to expect election to high national office to transform any average person (no matter how decent they may seem) into a Lincoln or a Truman.
— Mike Sep 1, 10:36 AM #
18 months ago, sarah was mayor of a town of 6700 people. now, she’s “ready on day one” if mccain should slip on the alaskan ice then? please, if he really cared about this country’s future, he would get an economic expert, not someone who’s sitting on our largest (land mass) state which is loaded with natural resources, and claiming a positive cash flow from the current price of oil.
— Mac Sep 1, 04:03 PM #
I think if you have a four month old with Down Syndrome and a 17 year old who is pregnant, along with three other kids — AND your husband is not a stay at home dad, you might just be a bit distracted if you were suddenly asked to take over as commander in chief. No, I’m not saying her place is at home in go-go boots, I’m all for cracking the glass ceiling, but as a sleep deprived mother myself, I wouldn’t want one in the SIT room when Iran comes calling.
As was said by JJB (#14) – Palin is pro “Creation Science,” which for me eliminates any supposed support she might show for education, higher or otherwise.
— hk Sep 1, 06:27 PM #
#80, hk, according to that link, “Palin was answering a question from the moderator near the conclusion of Wednesday night’s televised debate on KAKM Channel 7 when she said, “Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.”
She strikes me as being very open minded and not judgmental. She might just be that type of conservative that wants to hear a debate on issues before setting policy. As to her pregnant 17 year old who is about to become emancipated upon becoming married, maybe McCain wants this debate within the Republican party. Afterall, he is a maverick and most would agree he’s a moderate republican. Is the issue that she got pregnant at age 17 (like Obama’s mom) or that she is going to go on foodstamps? Is the issue that sex education should be taught in high school or middle school? I don’t know the answers, but I would like to hear the discussion on family values just as much as Obama’s campaign would like to hear the discussion on race. One other point, I think John Adams had two of his four children turn out to be drunkards and poor Thomas Jefferson who did not have a wife at home had his own family problems. Can you really say that America was worse off because they were our presidents? It just underscores the sacrificees these public figures make for preserving our values, whatever they may be. I just hate to see comments that verge on sexism on this discussion board.— JAS Sep 1, 07:02 PM #
Teach both?
Teach Evolution along side of Creationism;
Teach Astronomy along side of Astrology; Teach Archaeology along side of Chariots of the Gods.
— JW Sep 1, 08:22 PM #
Oh grow up! Haven’t you heard about the “marketplace of ideas” or the socratic method of teaching? Sometimes you need to pair alternatives to better understand theories. What sort of educator are you?
— JAS Sep 1, 08:32 PM #
The prospect of a continued imperial democracy nation state led by McCain/Palin, is nothing short of terrifying. The large corporate interests ruling the republican government are building troop capacity in afghanistan and will take us into pakistan or some other stan. There is lots of money to be made in blowing up things.
I will admit that Obama is not my candidate of choice, but at least he seems to see that the rest of the world is not this nation’s plaything of destruction. The poor, here and abroad, are people, mothers and fathers and babies and grandparents, deserving of our efforts to feed, clothe, and shelter rather than bomb.
The simple slogan of this country first needs to be dealt with by exploring the complexities of how that is BEST achieved. Not by the hands holding guns, but by hands reaching out with help, the help of true sustaining development.
Unfortunately, the electorate is disaffected, uninformed, and deceived. Mainstream media is mainstream corporate pr.
Call upon all neighbors and ask them to search out the truth. Ask them to envision the world of tomorrow in peace. Who of these candidates moves us in that direction? Neither will take us there, but who will move us closer toward a world of peace?
— mnh Sep 1, 09:51 PM #
Gov. Palin is fantastic, and it is clear the Democrats are terrified of her – if she were a Democrat, she would be canonized immediately, if not sooner. A 7% increase for the university system and this is downplayed? What bias! Shame on the Chronicle.
— TRB Sep 2, 07:39 AM #
“Palin is frighteningly unqualified to be VP- that’s clear.”
Well, only if it is equally clear that Obama is frighteningly unqualified to be president!
— TRB Sep 2, 07:42 AM #
none sense is rampant these days.
To say thta Palin is not prepared while Obama is makes tha author look stupid like an enamoured person.
Your intelligence might look brighter is assuming thta both are not prepared for the asisigment.
— Calixto Sep 2, 02:18 PM #
The choice of Palin for VP is nothing more than an insulting gimmick. The Republicans would have us swallow the notion that there’s not ONE other person – woman or man – who has more to offer the ticket than her? Unfathomable. Insulting. And dancing around, smiling and cheering, pretending she’s a popular choice, daring anyone to make an issue of it just continues the pretense that they hope will provide cover for their attempts to try and steal yet another election. Too many people fail to acknowledge that W was not elected but was put into office through outright fraud in Florida and Ohio. Too bad if you’re tired of this inconvenient truth but this democracy is too important to let this slide.
Furthermore, anyone who insists on imposing his or her religious beliefs on the rest of us (like Bush & Palin and their anti-abortion, intelligent design ilk) is dangerous.
And to equate Obama with the Black Muslims or any Muslims – insisting that he put them down to prove himself “loyal” – is racist – unequivocally.
In a nation where too many people’s feelings about images rule their voting choices, I’m just a little scared, especially because for some, Barack Obama’s intellect, judgment, courage and ability to lead are not enough to qualify him. But somehow a privileged near-do-well GW Bush didn’t embarrass these same people with his inability to talk, reason or serve the interests of anyone other than his cronies. The same people can’t see through these oil “pushers” W, Cheney, now Palin as they threaten the survival of the planet. The rest of the world knows a statesman when they meet one, but for some in his home country, a real “American” has to look different from Obama and familiar in a way that makes them feel safe – even as they’re being taken to hell in a hand basket. Kucinich’s speech, “Wake Up America,” said it all.
— and another thing... Sep 2, 03:01 PM #
Liberals are cynic.
They call stupid everybody who disagrees based on simple labels “anti-abortion, intelligent design, war, big oil, pro drilling”
Just the ability to pre-judge people based on bullets is not smart.
The notion of being pro-choice does not make you smart
The notion of believing on evolutionism does not make you smart
The notion of pretending to hate wars does not make you smart
The notion of hating guns does not make you smart
The notion that talking with style and using sophisticated wording is the most valuable human condition does not make you smart
The notion of hating obscure concepts such as big-oil does not make you smart
The notion of believing gays must marry and rise kids does not make you smart
The notion of calling yourself progressive does not make you smart
The notion of believing Obama is a god does not make you smart
The notion to believe that there is all gloom around does not make you smart
The notion of believing that Al Gore does need to live like a third world individual to pretend everybody else do does not make you smart
The notion of believing Obama did not know about Wright’s hate does not make you smart.
The notion of believing that America is divided assuming the division exist because other people do not agree with your notions does not make you smart.
Maybe they create those notions to convince themselves they are smart.
— Calixto Sep 2, 04:38 PM #
she makes me want to vomit. what a peice of fluff. I nearly dropped dead when i went to work today and actually heard a DR. say ing how brilliant it was to choose this chick for V.P.
no way jose
she should stay at home and supervise her retarded kid and the one who just got knocked up.
I hope her grand baby has anencephaly so she can force her own daughter to give birth to a baby with no skull! just lovely” abstinince only deary”. No partial birth abortion for u!
sweet
— cindy Sep 3, 01:13 AM #
The rhetoric of some of the blogging is a fabulous study in fallacy…both sides now…Cindy is vitriolic to a fault…but this calixto “notion” statement is clearly a nominee for the pot calling the kettle…dare I say it…black. Oh, the RACE card can be a deuce!
As a person who is unwilling to accept the label, “liberal”, or any such misleading oversimplification, such as “conservative” for myself or any other person, I must suggest that the personal attacks in words such as “stupid” and “not make you smart” are classic.
Please identify the persons who are declaring Obama to be “god.” Are there some who would say McCain is? There are some who will say McCain is his instrument, for sure. Perhaps McCain is Zeus and Palin, Athena.
There are several “notions” that are studies in the atmospheric movement of arrghument here…so if I may be the weather channel of rhetoric, let’s look at these systems…my personal fav is “the notion of pretending to hate wars.” (you could have guessed that from my previous post). In this particular low pressure area, the implication is that opposition to large scale organized death and destruction is a pretense. Thus, the truth is that Obama, et al, really love war, but must pretend otherwise in order to avoid being found out and to appear “smart.” I laughed till I cried…or did I just cry…I am not smart enough to remember.
Second fav, is the “notion” of “obscure big oil.” Excuse me, but big oil is hardly a notion, but is in fact a set of interlocking corporations controlling all kinds of energy elements and raking in huge profits at the cost of all, in particular the poor, upon whom the energy cost surges bear the greatest impact, literally destroying all discretionary resources and straining necessary ones. BP, Exxon, and the rest are hardly “obscure.”
And for extra special mention…super, double, secret probation awarded…the last of the complained about notions…that America is divided…holy cow…no, wait, that is india and that division happened in 48…America divided!!?? Say it aint so…that I find the dont vote for “N…rs” on bathroom walls, that the rich cavort in Newport while the poor cram into the projects in Queens and Brooklyn, that hunger and malnourishment and underachievement and inattention swill in the ghettoes and the hollows and the barrios, while cell phones and hollister and fitch tshirts are the rage of the McMansion crowd and foreclosure threatens everywhere…America divided….ha…I think I will go sneak in the kitchen for a salad picked by someone who had to sneak across the border to find work.
in closing, calix…old buddy…just dismiss the opposition as living on notions. Politics, the taking care of people by its servants, is a strange world of notions. Your notion of what does and does not make one “smart” is an award winning piece of bloggery. Congratulations on proving your points to and about yourself.
— mnh Sep 3, 01:41 AM #
My english is not good but I live in USA and we both can see, unless one of us is blind how liberal for instance attack Palin just because she is against abortion, she is a Christian or she believes on intelligent design. I did not put those arguments on their mouths. Did I?
That alone proves my point. Not only the outcry is there, but there is a strident silence on the side of an obviously liberal media. The silent is there, is not? So that part of “the opposition” which is fair, depicts itself in the way I described
And the notion statements come into play. If you are atheist, which I am, if you believe on evolution, which I do, if you believe on abortion or on big oils it does not mean you are a good person, or a smart one. In the same token, believing the opposite does not mean you are stupid as liberal assume. Those are banal evaluations of the human being. Lacking substance.
If you decide to choose your husband or wife based on notions like that, if you choose your friend on notions like that, if you hope an architect to build your house if comply with notions like those, if you hope a surgeon to save your kid’s life unless comply with notions like those, if you expect a good president to comply with notions like that, wow, your ability to judge a human being may be compromised.
For the sake of the example, Big Oil is an obscure concept for reason beyond semantic. For the sake of a scientific analysis you must consider a fact and its opposite side. I guess you belong to the academic given the environment. But there is cold because there is heat. You cannot destroy both sides of a phenomena. The absent of opposites obscures the phenomena. Big Oil is an absurd when you pretend to destroy it upfront. If there is an Oil Industry there will be Big and Small Oil. If you create an stance that because of being Big you are Evil, wow, there is not much I say about it. Still trying to getting rid of it is as absurd as trying to get rid of the tall guys. You never end killing tall guys until you get rid of all guys.
So, being as materialistic and objective as it gets, that is an obscure notion. The notion is born from an ideological stance and turned into a cliché. The same notion that fights Wallmart for being Big. We need Big Oil as much as they need us. Big Oil acts driven by the same reasons the push small oil, big IT Company, small IT Company. Big restaurants, small restaurants, big newspaper, small newspaper, Google or Ask.com, and so on. And still many like you try to create a more equivalence between the Big and the Small. Immorality is not determined by size, not by the amount of wealth or the amount of power.
— Calixto Sep 3, 05:30 PM #
Let’s be reasonable here, the only reason McCain chose Palin was to try to get the vote of women who supported Hilary and who only want to vote for a woman. Let’s hope they take a close look at the issues and Palin’s position on them before they vote because they are far from Hilary’s views.
Palin lacks the qualifications to be Vice President. They keep bringing up her PTA position——are they serious??? They must think voters are pretty stupid not to see through what the Republicans are claiming as her “experience.” I think McCain’s choice was a simply a last ditch effort to win in November.
— sms Sep 3, 08:55 PM #
How could she be first rate if she is willing to abandon her new born baby, that has down syndrome, to become vice president? Is this the time period when the child will need her the most? How could McCain ask a pro-family American to do such a thing?
— Joe Munculus Sep 3, 11:53 PM #
First off, I’m not a liberal I’m a Republican and Christian, but I’m not stupid. These people who elected the extremely ill-prepared G Dubya are only impressed with slogans because that’s about all that they can digest at one time that’s why they’re enthralled with Palin. You seem to think that a 7 per cent increase in university funding (the 4th increase in 20 years compared to 20 years of inflation) is something to stand in awe over? Listen, it didn’t take a pit bull with or without lipstick to put in a pipeline and although you think Palin’s some superwoman she didn’t put the pipline in all by herself. The only thing Sarah Palin did that impacted substantially was to raise taxes on the oil producing companies in her state. That has created the boom. Anybody can raise their prices that doesn’t take a genius. Now since the companies are paying more taxes to Alaska do you think that could be one of the reasons why you’re paying more at the gas pump? It shouldn’t take a genius to figure that one out either. Through her oil tax she’s been able to give money back to all Alaskans. That’s 680,000 people freeloading off the rest of America and that wasn’t enough Sarah got hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks from the Federal Government. For what, 680,000 parkas? So you think raising prices and begging for money makes her executive material? Ben & Jerry ran Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream quite well, but I wouldn’t put them in charge of Microsoft or Boeing.
— ravforu Sep 6, 03:47 AM #
Wow… we have just put America’s most superficial high school queeny on the ticket and the best thing is. She has an education in speaking well in front of ppl… no surprise that the crowd was wooed… thats what shes gone to school for- she better be good at it.. She is not a person like me, that’s for sure. I’m a college student going for a graduates, woman, vegetarian, and full-time worker. I am not impressed that a moose-killing, polar bear hating, popularity goddess is a vice-presidential candidate. I wish there were a better representative of females out there.. this is our chance at politics and I believe if she were elected vice-president, it would ridicule women everywhere. She is not a real woman if she has 5 kids and wants to put the country first. and how the hell did she run alaska when she was pregnant? you cant even work at mcdonalds when you’re pregnant, much less govern a state. Not to downtalk Alaska, but it sounds like a breeze in the park if you can be pregnant and govern a state. It seems, while palin was having yet another baby and governing a state, her daughter was getting pregnant out of marriage and age 17. That is a nice Christian family you have going there, Palin. I think she could’ve at least found a stay at home dad. Her poor kids. She might as well have a 6th child. I’m sure she won’t be taking care of that one just the same.
— Christine Sep 7, 12:08 AM #
So, Calixto, if people express their passionate opposition based on their genuine righteous indignation, you experience it as a putdown that makes you feel stupid – or feel that you’re being judged as being stupid. No one is calling you or people who think like you stupid. The people who disagree with you are simply exasperated. The people you dismiss as liberal care deeply about the poor and suffering and want to see our tax dollars used to make life better for everyone, not the privileged (self-congratulatory, “blessed”) few.
As far as I can tell, people who oppose war, big oil, the forcing of religious concepts on those who don’t believe as they do – tend to be better educated about the issues and tend to be critical thinkers who don’t accept the lies being promulgated by the so-called “mainstream.” If our frustration and annoyance makes you feel you’re being looked down on, perhaps you should find out why we draw the conclusions we draw. I think it’s arrogant to go along with the status quo as if you actually know what you’re talking about and to dismiss those who disagree with you as just a bunch of smarty pants. We are forced to hear the endless propaganda you take for news day in and day out and have to seek alternative views of politics far away from the so-called Liberal press. So naturally you think our conclusions are crazy. It would be wonderful if you would take the time to read the work of “liberals” who can prove their points with facts on top of facts (dismissed by you with the trivializing left label). You might just feel a little smarter if you understood where the other side of the argument is coming from.
— and another thing... Sep 8, 09:48 AM #
Exasperation is not a good advisor
I know a lot about the left; I grew in a communist country, became an engineer and worked on a doctor degree in former Soviet Union. Travelled on duty across most socialist eastern countries.
I lived in Venezuela for many years and know very well the good intentions of leftist Hugo Chavez.
Studied all political, economical and philosophical aspects of leftist ideologue as much as you can imagine.
I consider myself an expert in the subject, vanity aside. It is my life experience.
So I know very well where the argument is coming from.
I can tell that that behind the left quite often deep demagogies are hidden behind dreams and beautiful words.
I can tell that when those dreams turn into reality the same people they pretend to protect suffer miserably.
Just try to have a thought about what a trivialization of the right might be.
I may bring a lot of real life example to prove my perspective. It might help both of us to be smarter.
Try Christine, she represents many of those views that depict the way so called liberals approach life, approach those who disagree.
— Calixto Sep 8, 02:34 PM #
Take a minute to reflect on the state of the economy. You or someone you know is unemployed; you or someone close to you has lost her home, you or someone you would never have suspected could be; is now homeless. We as a country are facing terrrible threats from foriegn enemies; Iran may be building nuclear weapons, China and Japan are in the midst of capturing control of our economy. Those of you who will vote for the Republican ticket obviously cannot grasp the seriousness of this situaltion; God cannot continue to bless America if we continue to cut our own wrists and hope we won’t bleed to death like the poor big animal Sarah Palin killed with her gun; Ask yourself did she and her family eat all of that moose or did she just kill him for fun; Is she really concerned with the American people or is she out to just kill us for fun.
— Senilarp Sep 10, 05:17 AM #
I love talking about economics!! That is one of the subjects more politicized and ideologized therefore more distorted.
I guess you can grasp the economic situation better for being a democrat. But economic is an exact science. Or close enough. Macro and microeconomic. There are not reliable smart-meter, or beauty-meter but when it comes to economics it is about arithmetic. We earn salaries, easy to compare, we pay prices, easy to compare, we get unemployed, how many is easy to compare, we own money, easy to compare, how much prices increase, is easy to compare, etc.
Every single qualification of an economic fact is a matter of arithmetic comparison. Like begin poor, or being rich, or being a BIG oil, or being wealthier that, or poorer than.
It is very easy to hear all kind of qualification toward last eight years economics. All distorted because they lack a very single premise. They not COMPARE. Saying for instance the WORST is meaningless without a simple comparison with peer countries and our own history. Have you ever thought about it? But, not, most media, most liberal repeat days after day that the panorama is doom, that there is a recession, when there is not, (that is mathematically described as well), etc. Upon so many reiterations plus our own desire to believe what is convenient to our ideological positions, it seems to be reality. It does not take a minute, it takes several hours reading to numbers, how the economic growths or contracts, how much the salary increases or decreases, how is the inflation, the unemployment. And many other indexes. Look at them! Have then an historic perspective during last 20-50 years. Then go and compare then to France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, China, etc. Now you might be ready to discover how wrong all those assumptions are.
But you have another choice. Inquisition said the earth was motionless and it took burning fire to have the full of facts Galileo to deny himself. It did not change the fact that the earth is moving indeed. You can close your eyes to sciences, to facts and still say that unemployment and inflation are at records labels. You may want to forget how inflation rose during Carter’s years. Or not know at all. Iideologies are very close to religions. In those worlds ideas, believes and leaders are the most important things.
— Calixto Sep 11, 03:36 PM #
Palin does not have the education to even teach government in high school, much less be the second most notable politician in the world. I want my doctor to have studied medicine, my attorney to have studied law, and my president and vice president to know something about U. S. government, history, and culture. Go ahead. Call me an elitist. But as far as I’m concerned, her nomination is insane.
— Cindy Williams Sep 13, 10:26 PM #
You are not elitist, you are self biased.
Three is not way to pretend thta being a community organize qualifies you as president.
Believing it qualifies is not less insane
— Calixto Sep 15, 12:06 AM #
I guess she thinks we should all be so happy when our high school daughters get pregnant as she’s for abstinence education only—
— LIZ CO Sep 16, 10:47 PM #
Obama is a Harvard Graduate and also taught law. Palin is not even qualified to be his student so why would anybody compare these two. No comparison here. A presidential candidate who graduated at the bottom of his class but he’s competent to be President. This is a real no brainer! God help us all.
— telli loren Sep 17, 02:00 PM #
Every person in this country should be doing research on Sarah Palin before they go to the polls to vote. The education that she has does not qualify her for the job of Vice President of the United States. If John McCain does become President, we should all be very concerned about his health because if he dies while in office, only God will be able to help this country if that Palin woman should become the President.
Just because Palin is a woman does not make her Presidental material. The one woman who is qualified to be President is Hillary Clinton and since she is no longer on the ticket, then the choice is clear. Obama is the right person to vote for in November!
— Charlotte Hall Sep 18, 12:45 AM #
you guys pick & cherry what is convenient to your believes.
I would like to think that you are all in an academic or sciences environment.
In sciences you need to look at all factors if you are really good or strive to be one.
The best shot about Obama is about his “graduated status”. To Equate a lawyer to command and lead is not a result of a real intelectual analysis.
Breath and give it a second thought, there is always room for improvement.
….maybe listening a little bit lawyers jokes could help to clarify minds.
…by the way, Hillary is qualified indeed and Obama’s judgement failed on not picking her. She gets far more traction than Biden by all accounts. But it is good to remember that Hillary came to Politics in her husband carriage. Palin is there by herself. Maybe beating graduated lawyers in her way.
— Calixto Sep 18, 11:07 AM #
by the way
Hitler was a tremendous leader, with not success in the academic enviroment. Fidel is a tremendous leader and a lawyer.
Both took their countries in the wrong direction.
— Calixto Sep 18, 11:11 AM #