Mommy Palin maybe a tool but her kid is ADORABLE!
Exhibit A:
Speaking of politics...
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27 comments:
Time to step up to the plate, people.
On the one hand you have the Karl Rove attack machine, making fun of Obama's choice to do community organizing instead of signing up for a big firm job after law school. On the other hand, you have Obama, saying about Bristol's pregnancy, "People's families are off limits."
Obama is leading in a way I've never seen before from a politician. This is only a taste of what he's capable of. He's gonna be the type of leader we want to extend term limits for. But he can't do it alone. If you haven't made a donation yet, now is the time. Cough up chai for change. Show him some support. If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
I listened to a bunch of those speeches tonight, and I gotta tell you, what keeps coming back to me is how out of touch the Republican Party is with what's going on in this country. Bristol Palin is a great metaphor. Her mother preaches abstinence only education, and what's the result? Her daughter goes and gets pregnant at 17 and has to marry the guy. A typical person might, at this juncture, begin to ask herself: does abstinence only education really work? But Palin just keeps on trucking.
This metaphor works for the Republicans on every major issue. Iraq and Afghanistan? Ignore the violence, we're winning those wars. The economy? It's fine, just keep bailing out those banks. The environment? Global warming isn't real, and we just need to dig, dig, dig.
They should change their party symbol from the elephant to the ostrich.
Candyman
You sound like some machine pumping out the same tired anti-republican slogans as always. You need to start printing out bumper stickers. Might be a good business.
HH,
> You sound like some machine pumping out the same tired anti-republican slogans
You don't like the message so you attack the messenger? (Or is it that you don't like the message OR the messenger?) :P
You need to start printing out bumper stickers. Might be a good business.
I've thought about it.
"Obama is leading in a way I've never seen before from a politician. This is only a taste of what he's capable of. He's gonna be the type of leader we want to extend term limits for."
You know no such thing. You merely suppose it, choose to believe it, and reality and proof are unimportant. The cold hard reality is less rosy. First, he's only human and inherently fallible. Second, he's a politician and they are by definition self-serving. Third, he makes misstatements and mistakes and his supporters gloss them over showing a distinct lack of honesty and integrity in favor of emotional insistence.
It isn't important that the other side does no less. What matters is what does Obama's side do. They engage in hypocrisy, take people to moral task without moral authority, and brush it all off as nothing more than what others do.
So I have a much less passionate outlook on Obama and see him as just another president in a long line, who show their unworthiness for the office by how much they are willing to do and how far they are willing to go to achieve the office for the sake of winning to fulfill some imperative within them.
In this he is in good company with every other office seeker in history.
But don't sing his praises so or when he fails, and he will as all others do, to maintain the lofty heights they were claimed to posses and master, you will be forced to make a choice of honesty and integrity to admit you were wrong, or do like everyone else, deceive yourself, and deny or brush off all the wondrous things you said of him.
Grampa McCain may be no better but Obama is certainly no saint and you don't want to end up having to face that later after a build build-up.
potato,
"Obama is leading in a way I've never seen before from a politician. This is only a taste of what he's capable of. He's gonna be the type of leader we want to extend term limits for."
You know no such thing. You merely suppose it, choose to believe it, and reality and proof are unimportant. The cold hard reality is less rosy. First, he's only human and inherently fallible. Second, he's a politician and they are by definition self-serving. Third, he makes misstatements and mistakes and his supporters gloss them over showing a distinct lack of honesty and integrity in favor of emotional insistence.
Look, I can't predict the future. But what I've seen so far from Barack Obama is nothing short of amazing. The man is a giant slayer, taking down Hillary Clinton. And he did it with a slingshot, not by saying negative things about her. This cost him in the polls, but he stuck to his belief that politics can rise above the bickering and become something unifying. He's taking the same approach to the McCain/Palin competition - rising above the petty insults, making it about the issues. And last night we found out that John McCain has been listening.
He got the American people involved. Millions of us. Contributing to his campaign online. Knocking on doors, making phone calls. I know because I was part of that movement. This kind of thing is done by every politician, but it's never even approached Obama's scale.
You once spoke of a moshiach. I don't believe there is such a thing. But I believe there are great people, who lead humanity and teach us lessons. This is what moshiach means to me. I think Barack Obama might be a great person. He has yet to prove it. But I am looking forward, and the future is bright with Obama.
Ladies and Gentleman,
The issue, the ONLY issue of importance, IMHO, is Islamofacism, and Islam's ambitions to take over the world and take YOUR freedom away. They demand that you make room to tolerate their religion but their religion has no room for you!
Domestic policies pale in importance and probably won't make that huge a difference.
Wake up!!
This can only be fought by somebody who has a sanguine understanding of human nature and with the courage to confront the West's enemies.
Obama, as worthy as a candidate as he may be, thinks that TALKING to the Islamofacists and addressing all of their grievances against the West will make them nice.
I'm not arguing for another war. But our dealing with them has to be from a position of strength and willingness to use force if necessary. Otherwise, militant Islam will take over the middle east first (including Israel), then England, then the rest of Europe, then North America. This process is already happenning before our very eyes.
We are like the British before WW2.
Sorry for the downer guys, but I get the impression that many of liberals in the US and Europe don't really get it. They think that Islamists just want to be left alone, and if only the poor Palestinians would get their state, everything would be honky dory. Will, if you think a Pakistani Muslim in Britain blows himself up in a subway for the Palestinians, then your believing in Santa Claus, and the post-modern extreme leftist drivel coming out of Europe and Al Qaida propoganda.
The issue, the ONLY issue of importance, IMHO, is Islamofacism, and Islam's ambitions to take over the world and take YOUR freedom away.
Islamofascism is a threat, but so are all the other kooks out there. We have not even begun to take serious precautions against terrorist attacks in this country (unlike Israel).
You cannot eliminate a threat like Islamofascism. The best you can hope to do is defend yourself and minimize it. Remember the physician's rule: do no harm.
I used to think strong-arm tactics were the way to go, but I learned my lesson through the State of Israel. Our presence in the Palestinian territories only made things worse. The same is true of our presence in Iraq today. Or in the parlance of the rabbis, yatza scharo b'hefsedo.
Military solutions are always on the table. But they're a last resort. And that's where they should stay. People who run in guns blazing - like John McCain did in Iraq (he was one of the war's earliest proponents) - do more harm than good.
Our military is also spread too thin, and Americans will not support a draft. We no longer pose a credible threat to anyone, which is one of the reasons Obama wants to pull our troops back and concentrate them in Afghanistan.
The way forward is to push diplomacy and peace while reserving military force as a last resort, and a credible resort at that. Obama/Biden are the kind of team that can make it happen. McCain/Palin will botch it.
Candyman,
I think this article pretty much sums up my position:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3593064,00.html
Al Qaida's strategy is to force us to retreat, as did Spain when their elections were affected after a terrorist attack there.
Any retreat on our part is seen as defeat and only encourages them on.
There were mistakes made with Iraq and I don't deny it. But at present we have vital national interests at stake and a hasty withdrawal will cost us dearly on the long run.
I don't know if Islamofacism can be defeated in the conventional sense. But it can be discredited by wise,firm and consistent willingness to use force when necessary. You can't just "defend" against it. Any tactition knows that in the face of a threat the best defense is a good offense.
I come to the exact opposite conclusions that yuo do about the Palestinian territories. I admit that I actually favored the disengagement from Gaza, and at the beginning, also the Oslo accords. I also agree that we cannot control a hostile population forever. But it is clear to me, through the retrospectoscope of recent history, that Israel's withdrawals have shifted the balance of power decidedly in favor of Israel's enemies-- in Gaza and in Lebanon. Never has Israel been as vulnerable as it is now, and this seems to be a direct result of these withdrawals. Until such time that the Palestinians can actually show responsibility with their behavior, we have no choice but to control the territories in which they reside.
I agree with drj. Whether or not you think either the Iraqi War or the Six Day War were justified interventions, bailing on those respective territories before law and order can be firmly established only serves the violent interests of the Islamic radicals who wish to do harm to America and/or Israel.
Obama's idea of turning tail in Iraq for political gain at home would be a disaster on our fight against global terrorism.
Frankly, if the administration had fought the war like McCain wanted them to - i.e. with a large enough force to not just beat the pitiful Iraqi army, but to also keep the peace afterwards - then most of the instability and loss of human life could likely have been avoided.
For those commenters who think that McCain will be better able to fight islamofacism, please explain how starting the war in Iraq, rather than pursuing al queda more vigorously in Afganistan - something Obama had favored, has made us safer and weakend the islamofacists? Please also explain how getting approval for the war in Iraq on false/manipulated information has helped? Finally, please let us know if you have enlisted and if you are encouraging your children to do so?
Anon,
So you believe one bad mistake is good reason for a second worse mistake? Say what you will about past policies, I care about where we go from here.
Obama's idea of turning tail in Iraq for political gain at home would be a disaster on our fight against global terrorism.
Obama's not doing it for political gain at home. He's doing it for the same reason we withdrew from Vietnam. Or was that also a mistake?
You know what would be a real disaster? For McCain to get elected, reinstate the draft, draft my eighteen year old brother, and for him to get shot and killed on duty. None of this bullshit is worth that possibility.
Somehow it seems disingenuous to hear able-bodied people send other people's children to war.
For those that are so frightened of Islamofascism, and feel the only way to deal with the situation is WAR WAR WAR, why haven't you signed up yet?
The Iraq "war" was a mistake. Letting the Iraqi's govern themselves seems like our best bet. But maybe mismanaged, unendless military occupation based on false pretenses is the way to go... could be... Meanwhile we are spending 10 billion dollars a month on a war we have no business fighting, when we could be focusing on real terror that is stirring in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Iran's race to Nuclear Arms.
Oh and while we are off saving face in Iraq, fanning the flames of Islamic hatred of the West by our very presence, we fall further behind in the global market of ideas, education, and economy. American citizens lose their jobs, the rich get richer and the poor lose more access to health and education. The live's of women are put at risk and psuedoscience makes its way into the classroom.
For all this and more Vote McCain/Palin, a man with no answers for the economy and a woman who speaks in tongues to privilege the top spots of our government.
CM,
"Obama's not doing it for political gain at home. He's doing it for the same reason we withdrew from Vietnam."
He's doing it for both.
"Or was that also a mistake?"
Hard to say. That was a far more costly war, with an especially inhuman way it was carried out - particularly in Cambodia. Though the consequences of withdrawal were the deaths of hundreds of thousands to millions of South Vietnamese refugees and the use of brutal reeducation camps. I haven't done a real analysis of the history to say whether it was the right call or if a better one should have been made.
"You know what would be a real disaster? For McCain to get elected, reinstate the draft, draft my eighteen year old brother, and for him to get shot and killed on duty. None of this bullshit is worth that possibility."
Yeah, that's likely to happen. Your hysterics are uncalled for. With violence and US casualty rates the lowest it has ever been since the start of the war, now would be the ideal time to ensure political progress continues.
FU,
"Somehow it seems disingenuous to hear able-bodied people send other people's children to war.
For those that are so frightened of Islamofascism, and feel the only way to deal with the situation is WAR WAR WAR, why haven't you signed up yet?"
Hospitals in America need more nurses, how come you haven't signed up? We have a volunteer army and for some joining the military makes more sense in the context of their lives. I've actually given some consideration to joining - they have a nice program for paying back student loans.
"Letting the Iraqi's govern themselves seems like our best bet. But maybe mismanaged, unendless military occupation based on false pretenses is the way to go..."
That's just unfair. I agree with you that the goal should be Iraqi governance in the near future, but we need to keep our troops in place to ensure that can happen.
"Oh and while we are off saving face in Iraq, fanning the flames of Islamic hatred of the West by our very presence, we fall further behind in the global market of ideas, education, and economy. American citizens lose their jobs, the rich get richer and the poor lose more access to health and education. The live's of women are put at risk and psuedoscience makes its way into the classroom."
Heh, way to stay on topic.
With violence and US casualty rates the lowest it has ever been since the start of the war,
Don't fool yourself. The terrorists move around. When we invaded Afghanistan, Palestine went quiet. When we invaded Iraq, Afghanistan went quiet. Now Iraq got a little too hot, so they're back in Afghanistan.
Next stop... Palestine?
The issue, the ONLY issue of importance, IMHO, is Islamofacism, and Islam's ambitions to take over the world and take YOUR freedom away.
Yes, of course! Islam must be an evil, fascist religion. What we need is more awareness. Wait... wait... I've got it... a WEEK where we can raise awareness about the evils that lurk in the Muslim heart... where we can single out a single race and religion as the greatest threat to ever face mankind... we can call it... ISLAMOFASCISM AWARENESS WEEK! Just what the world needs!
oh shoot, I guess someone already had that idea. Darn.
Obama, as worthy as a candidate as he may be, thinks that TALKING to the Islamofacists and addressing all of their grievances against the West will make them nice.
This "ridiculous" idea of Obama's has now been adopted by the Bush administration.
Obama's idea of turning tail in Iraq
Obama's plan for Iraq withdrawal was immediately seconded by Maliki and adopted by Bush/Cheney two weeks later.
So... all of Obama's crazy, dangerous ideas are actually turning out to be great ideas. Even Bush thinks they're good. It helps that he's tremendously popular overseas... people actually listen to him, whereas Bush they (correctly) laughed off the stage.
Let's face the facts: Obama's leading the way on Iraq and foreign policy. He's got the touch. McCain can't hold a candle. With McCain, you'll get another 8 years of stalemate... which means another 8 years of failure.
I might add that Palin strikes me as Bush 2.0. The flying spaghetti monster help us if she ever takes the reins.
"You know what would be a real disaster? For McCain to get elected, reinstate the draft, draft my eighteen year old brother, and for him to get shot and killed on duty. None of this bullshit is worth that possibility."
Yeah, that's likely to happen. Your hysterics are uncalled for.
It's not so unlikely. The elephant in the room this election year is the draft. We can't keep asking our troops to risk their lives again and again without committing to a draft. If we choose to "finish" this war, if we commit, if we "double down" as McCain suggests, then we must also accept the possibility of a draft. McCain will never say this out loud, but its understood. Indeed, if we vote him in, then he can point at that and say, look, you chose this. You chose this draft.
McCain is not the type to surrender. It's win or die trying. We know that going in, as a country. If he is elected, he will consider a draft. He'll never admit in public, I'm telling you. But that's how he'll read the election: we doubled down, we committed, we are in it to win it.
And my 18 year old brother will be pushed up in front of a bunch of machine guns. So that America doesn't "lose" a war that was a mistake from the start.
Whereas, if we vote for Obama, the message is, garbage in, garbage out. Badly conceived wars lead to bad outcomes. We lost the war, or tied, like we did in Vietnam. We'll learn our lesson, we'll move on, just like Vietnam.
It's a no-brainer.
Candyman, some wars are lost, some are won. Some are inconclusive. If we always knew what the outcome of wars would be, there would be NO war because both sides would know what is going to happen, including the loser and therefore he wouldn't go to war. Wars always result from miscalculation and misunderstanding. Its the nature of war and the nature of humans. No war is ever clean or certain, and mistakes are always made.
If you have been following Iraq, positive progress is really being made. Stability is gradually increasing, although it has ups and downs. I hope America will be able to leave Iraq soon.
You are against the war because it did not go as cleanly as we planned or hoped for. Notwithstanding the misleading information before the war, had everything gone smoothly, the Iraqis surrending with an orderly transfer of power, nobody would be complaining. 3000 dead in 5 years of warfare is not alot, in the history of wafare. It would be nice if there were 0 deaths.
Nobody wants to lose their brother or son or husband. My son is drafted into the IDF next month. As you have seen, I question the wisdom of our leaders and don't agree with everything they do. But if we want to continue with our free, comfortable way of life we have to be willing to sacrifice for it. That is an army's job. If the US retreats from the battle against Islamist in Iraq or Afghanistan, it will be forced to fight them elsewhere but closer to home-- in Europe or in the homeland. We must fight our enemies in THEIR turf, not ours. That is basic war doctrine.
I think that McCain understands this, but I'm not sure that Obama does.
OP,
>Hospitals in America need more nurses, how come you haven't signed up?
I can see the comparison. No... really.
>but we need to keep our troops in place to ensure that can happen.
I forgot that Obama had plane tickets ready for every single american troop in Iraq to come home for January 20th when he takes office. Silly me.
>Heh, way to stay on topic.
Gotta look at the whole picture. To focus on "winning" this "war" without considering the effects of it's tremendously high cost is foolish and just what the red party line wants you to do.
Another thing... I keep hearing about how the Iraqi's want us out and how we are gaining so much victory in Iraq, the surge worked and all that... but still no talk of bringing the troops home. I wonder why that is?
CM,
"Don't fool yourself. The terrorists move around. When we invaded Afghanistan, Palestine went quiet. When we invaded Iraq, Afghanistan went quiet. Now Iraq got a little too hot, so they're back in Afghanistan."
What are you talking about? I don't know of any source that says the fighters in Afghanistan now were fighting in Iraq previously.
"Obama's plan for Iraq withdrawal was immediately seconded by Maliki and adopted by Bush/Cheney two weeks later."
Yeah, that's after the case on the ground could support such a move. Obama was actively against the surge and would have favored a withdrawal under fire.
"It helps that he's tremendously popular overseas..."
Sure, I heard Hamas hoped he'd win.
"Let's face the facts: Obama's leading the way on Iraq and foreign policy. He's got the touch."
No he hasn't and no he doesn't. He equivocated when it came to Russia/Georgia. He called Iran a tiny threat. He wanted to cut and run three years ago when it was among the worst possible ideas. He doesn't have the judgement.
"It's not so unlikely. The elephant in the room this election year is the draft."
I don't buy it. That's fantastic scare tactics on your part.
FU,
"I can see the comparison. No... really."
You don't? What's the practical difference? Aren't American lives at stake either way?
"I forgot that Obama had plane tickets ready for every single american troop in Iraq to come home for January 20th when he takes office. Silly me."
Hmm, I guess that means you support making decisions based on the situation on the ground rather than administratively pre-decided timetables, huh?
"Another thing... I keep hearing about how the Iraqi's want us out and how we are gaining so much victory in Iraq, the surge worked and all that... but still no talk of bringing the troops home. I wonder why that is?"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/06/content_9804808.htm
Draft Piper Palin for President.
Oh and while we are off saving face in Iraq, fanning the flames of Islamic hatred of the West by our very presence,
This is a point that bears repeating. All those years in Gaza, and what did we get? More terrorists. Nothing fans the flames of terrorism like occupying a foreign country.
CM,
"This is a point that bears repeating. All those years in Gaza, and what did we get? More terrorists. Nothing fans the flames of terrorism like occupying a foreign country."
If they're nationalists, that's true. If they're religious fanatics who oppose Israel's existence on principle then it isn't. Terrorists _come_ to Gaza to attack Israel.
OP,
>You don't? What's the practical difference? Aren't American lives at stake either way?
Think about it OP.
>Hmm, I guess that means you support making decisions based on the situation on the ground rather than administratively pre-decided timetables, huh?
You really think Obama is an idiot don't you? Ever heard of making predictions and goals based on current information? Do you honestly think that Obama is going to continue to pull out troops based on his timetable if the situation worsens or changes significantly in any way?
>http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/06/content_9804808.htm
Thanks for the link. Hope you didn't look to hard for that. Chinese news? I hope it's true, because maybe McCain will see the light and bring our troops home.
FU,
"Think about it OP."
I don't see a difference. Why are you sending others to do a job you think should be done? If the issue is danger then you should be even more willing to take your place.
"You really think Obama is an idiot don't you?"
No, I think he's a political genius and was using the Iraq war early on for key political gain.
"Ever heard of making predictions and goals based on current information? Do you honestly think that Obama is going to continue to pull out troops based on his timetable if the situation worsens or changes significantly in any way?"
If the situation worsened he'd even more quickly bail on the place. He'd have the last Americans scrambling onto an overcrowded helicopter. If he isn't going to stick to the timetable then what's with all the fancy talk about campaign promises? He was running for years on the 16 months mantra.
"Thanks for the link. Hope you didn't look to hard for that."
The story is everywhere. That's just the first link I found.
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