| http://abcnews.go.com/Video/pl...
In case any of you missed probably the ONLY interview Sarah Palin will give for quite a while, you NEED to see this.
I have a lot of thoughts on the choice of Sarah Palin for VP. I have some perspective based on my limited experience. I know that even though Bush and Cheney have made a complete mess of the country, we absolutely CANNOT assume that Obama will win, simply because the previous Republicans have screwed up.
This may seem off topic, but bear with me: a few years ago, a Councilman from my town - a Democrat - was arrested on drug charges in Newark. He held on to his office - tighter than Joe Ferriero is hanging on to his Chairmanship. Despite us privately begging and pleading for him to step, down, he went through with his swearing in - quite embarrassing - and a few months longer than that even. He protested his innocence up and down and the committee folks - as nice as they are - hoped this was some kind of misunderstanding. They believed him because they wanted to believe him. Until he dashed all their hopes by pleading guilty in JULY after being busted in NOVEMBER. 8 Months of lying to everyone until he finally pled guilty. You would THINK that that would make it very hard to elect Democrats for the next - oh century - as the Republicans were reported to have told themselves. And so, the Republicans didn't campaign very hard.
That was in 2006. There were 3 of us on the Dem ticket in town, facing two well-liked incumbent Republicans. The disgraced Councilman, before he pled guilty, offered $$$ and help for the campaign. We said - No Thank You. SERIOUSLY, No Thank You. Then we tried to run a campaign for 3 seats with less than $9,000. We stayed completely positive - not one negative ad against our opponents. We had a message of greening our town and we stayed on- message. We won all three seats.
My point of this little anecdote - is that it doesn't matter what the previous administration does or is accused of, or how much they have screwed up - you CANNOT just run on that. You cannot let your guard down - not for one moment. You cannot assume a cakewalk. Every election can go either way no matter what came before. So get people looking forward - that is what we did. Obama WILL need as much help as we can give - no matter how much Bush screwed up. We cannot let down our guard.
And so we have to run on the FUTURE. We need to tell folks about OBAMA and Biden. AND we need to tell people that Sarah Palin has absolutely no qualifications for this job. Just look at her unscripted answers. She is a Beauty pageant contestant. I find it almost amusing that for months they pilloried Obama for his "celebrity" and his oratory skills although he has never behaved any differently than a thoughtful, calm, dignified, man of principle who can think on his feet AND he writes his OWN speeches. The Republicans then have the nerve to fawn all over a pretty bubble headed un-curious BEAUTY contestant who can read from a teleprompter but can't think on her feet. Obama showed excellent judgment by choosing a person ready to lead in Joe Biden. John McCain showed a lack of judgment of frightening proportions by choosing a Governor who has absolutely NO experience in foreign affairs and is the very first VP candidate - according to Keith Olbermann, who has NEVER MET A FOREIGN HEAD OF STATE before being chosen. She had only been to Canada and Mexico before. Now reports are that the folks who brought you 9/11 have regained their previous strength thanks to George Bush the Bewildered. And so the FUTURE demands that we WILL need COMPETENCE in the White House. We will need SKILL. We will need DIPLOMACY. We will need EXCELLENT JUDGMENT. All traits SERIOUSLY lacking in John McCain and Sarah Palin and on display in HD in that interview with Charlie Gibson. Traits that Obama and Biden have in abundance.
We need competent clear thinkers with INTELLIGENCE like Obama and Biden.
And so, I submit to you that the Sarah Palin interview should win the award for the SCARIEST FILM of the entire year. Because if the Hot Head and The Bubble Head win, our FUTURE is too horrifying to even contemplate.
The best review - She's Not Ready by Bob Herbert who gave us a thoughtful take on how we should judge Sarah solely on her qualifications, not her family life:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09... |
