September 3, 2008 12:21 PM
McCain's brilliant choice!
Posted by Tom Tomorrow
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Perfect follow-up to the "Stupid Distraction" strip. :) The commentary on Ms. Palin is accurate, as well.
However ...
Leaving aside her stand on overhyped and irrelevant non-issues like Creationism and Gun Control, as well as long-resolved-and-emotional-button-pushing non-issues like Abortion (all under "Stupid Distraction"), Palin has a strong record of actually keeping her campaign promises. Not to mention her record on going after corrupt political figures, even if they're in her own party.
It makes one almost wish McCain got elected - just so he would die in office and put Palin in the Presidency.
abortion is a non-issue? there are 4 staunch opponents of roe vs wade on the supreme court. the president appoints supreme court justices. not a non-issue at all. and how is gun control a non-issue? congress has voted on gun control issues many times in the past twenty years and the president can sign or veto such bills. on creationism i don't really agree either. there are frequent challenges in federal court to school districts that attempt to teach creationism. the president appoints all federal judges.
Roe vs Wade settled the issue years ago. Everything since then has been opponents trying to overturn it. Non-issue, designed to inflame emotions.
Gun control is a non-issue. Americans can still own firearms, and even personal arsenals. To date, no police agency has the right to go to a person's house and arbitrarily arrest a person because he owns a firearm. But it inspires strong emotions. Again, non-issue designed to inflame emotions.
Creationism is a local issue, decided by indivdual school districts. There is no federal mandate to teach it. For school board and county government elections, it's an issue. For federal-level elections, it's an emotion-inducing non-issue.
Now the appointment of federal judges based on political beliefs, THAT is an issue!
you may not care about them but that doesn't make them non-issues. they profoundly effect people's lives and the president yields enormous power in each case as i outlined. if you want to ignore them in choosing your candidate go ahead. i certainly won't.
Good for you! Choose your issues like you choose your candidates! Don't say ANYTHING is important or not because of other's opinions!
That's the problem with party-based politics - if the political parties decide an issue is unimportant, it will be ignored until force is applied. And if political parties decide an issue is vital, they'll focus on it no matter what. The opinions of the people or the dictates of reality are ignored until they reach the levels of natural disasters.
i completely agree w/ you on party based politics. however, while it's true that the major political parties deciding an issue is important does not make that issue important, it does not follow logically that it makes that issue UNIMPORTANT. it MAY be unimportant -- the republican party making bill clinton's sex life an issue for example. and i would even agree that the three issues mentioned are used by the parties as distractions, however, that does not make them non-issues. that is the error of binary thinking. in these cases they serve as distractions AND also have a real impact on people's lives.
i completely agree w/ you on party based politics. however, while it's true that the major political parties deciding an issue is important does not make that issue important, it does not follow logically that it makes that issue UNIMPORTANT. it MAY be unimportant -- the republican party making bill clinton's sex life an issue for example. and i would even agree that gun control, abortion and teaching creationism are used by the parties as distractions, however, that does not make them non-issues. that is the error of binary thinking. these issues impact many people's lives deeply AND ALSO they are utilized as distractions. unlike bill clinton's sex life which is only a distraction.
We're forgetting the point of the stupid distractions here. Palin is the Republican Governor of Alaska. She wouldn't have got the post if she hadn't got the backing of all the big oil companies who want a piece of that state. It's carrying on the same oily line from The Bush Dynasty.
I've been living in London, England since 1971, and everyone here is appalled at what's happening in America now. The two Bush non-elections were bad enough, but this circus is just downright scarey. I fear McCain is going to steal the election from under Obama's nose the way Dubya grabbed it from Gore (and why ISN'T he a force to be reckoned with this time?).
T-Bone--what's truly unbelievable is that while you Brits are tuned into the very real dangers here, us Yanks seem oblivious! I do not understand the strange psychological brain breakdown en masse that is happening here--is there something in the water? In our food stuff? Are our TV's sending out some kind of mind-altering microwaves?
It's a very scary episode of Twilight Zone...only it's really happening! Sometimes I just wanna run around grabbing & shaking people--telling them to "Wake Up!" What a nightmare....and now I read that MSNBC has removed Olberman from covering the election...including debates! We can have Fox News slamming the Left 24/7, yet there shall be no slamming of the Right?! Especially after what the Right has done and is doing to this country$! My God---it truly is a nightmare.
Not all of us are oblivious in the former U.S.A. There are a lot of people who refer to the American government as the Federal Empire now. Personally, I'm expecting riots eventually.
My family created this country - I hate to see it end.
Bookkeeper-At-Arms
I used to have some respect for you -- even if I disagreed with you, but you've bought into the Palin myth?
This is almost as bad as buying the Liberal Tax Raising Obama myth!
Did you even BOTHER to do some research on her before buying what you were sold? Do you do your own research or do you just accept what you're told?
I've "bought into" nothing and I campaign for no-one. And since I am a Pagan with 19th-century Federalist political leanings (government in a strictly-regulated sphere, with most affairs dealt with by small-scale local power), I would never be accepted into the Christian Right-Wing.
I judge politicians by the prime rule of "Do they keep their word?". Palin does keep her word better than the main candidates. I do not think she would be the ideal choice for president. Actually, I don't think we've had a decent president since Teddy Roosevelt, which is why I've voted Libertarian since 1976. But I would find her preferable to the other choices.
Bookkeeper-At-Arms
My question was not rhetorical -- by what stretch of the imagination has she "[kept] her word"? She hasn't even told the truth about her activities as Mayor or Governor.
I am asking you to back up your claims with facts. I've heard the propaganda about her taking on the Good Ol' Boys Network and stopping the "bridge to nowhere" -- however her PUBLIC record goes against that.
So please clarify how has she "[kept] her word", with internet accessible references. Further please clarify how Obama, McCain or Biden has not.
As I was looking up the requested information, it struck me ... WHAT WAS I DOING?!?
I have an OPINION. I expressed it. Others CHALLENGED my OPINION, and I felt compelled to DEFEND it! What is wrong with this?!
Opinions are the inalienable right of every human. Opinions are personal and different in every individual. And as such, they do not need or require defending. There is no such thing as a "right" or "wrong" opinion.
What has America become?! Is America a place where a person who has a differnt opinion can be ATTACKED for that opinion? Where a person has to DEFEND HIS RIGHT TO HAVE AN OPINION?!
This election is being dominated by fanatics and shrill-voiced demagogues on both sides. Those who do not agree are being challeneged, as if having an opinion not sanctioned by one of the two wings of the Political Spectrum is a crime or a disease.
I have an opinion. I have stated it. I do not NEED to defend it. I am an AMERICAN, and I stand on my INALIENABLE RIGHT TO HAVE MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION!!
So there. Nyah. :p
As I was looking up the requested information, it struck me ... WHAT WAS I DOING?!?
I have an OPINION. I expressed it. Others CHALLENGED my OPINION, and I felt compelled to DEFEND it! What is wrong with this?!
Opinions are the inalienable right of every human. Opinions are personal and different in every individual. And as such, they do not need or require defending. There is no such thing as a "right" or "wrong" opinion.
What has America become?! Is America a place where a person who has a differnt opinion can be ATTACKED for that opinion? Where a person has to DEFEND HIS RIGHT TO HAVE AN OPINION?!
This election is being dominated by fanatics and shrill-voiced demagogues on both sides. Those who do not agree are being challeneged, as if having an opinion not sanctioned by one of the two wings of the Political Spectrum is a crime or a disease.
I have an opinion. I have stated it. I do not NEED to defend it. I am an AMERICAN, and I stand on my INALIENABLE RIGHT TO HAVE MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION!!
So there. Nyah. :p
Bookkeeper At Arms --
Sorry doesn't wash.
You didn't claim to have an opinion you stated that you had facts --
"Palin has a strong record of actually keeping her campaign promises. Not to mention her record on going after corrupt political figures, even if they're in her own party."
I respect people's opinions. What I don't respect are people who claim to make decisions based on facts and don't have the facts to back them up.
Obviously your fact check didn't go well.
Hopefully this will stop you from being a Palindrone.
[i]Palindrone: people who mindlessly follow Queen B Palin.[/i]
Glad I at least made you do some research instead of depending on spin doctors.
So you believe that people are entitled to opinions that differ from yours? That there are only a set number of "Right" ways of looking at things?
And you do NOT know my opinions.
My opinion - if either McCain or Biden become president, there will be no change in the way the country is run, leading to a new Great Depression, possibly a civil war.
If either Obama or Palin become president, they would be trapped in constant scandal and political infighting, flailing helplessly while Old-School Bushies continue to run things into the ground.
In either case, America will be in a civil war within the next five years.
That is my opinion. It is also my opinion that I am willing to fight - and yes to die - for other people to have the right to have opinions that are different from mine. That is what being an American means to me.
Now - what is your opinion?
What about Palin's initial support of the Bridge to Nowhere, then after the State of Alaska got the $223,000,000, she changed her mind and now opposes it, even stating "Thanks, but no thinks" during her nomination speech.
What about her hiring unqualified friends to hold public offices and firing people because they wouldn't do her will, re: Troopergate.
What about her and her campaign buddies trying to squelch the hearings. The same ones she said she would show up to, but is now recanting and refusing to go.
Yeah, she keeps her promises...to her friends and allies if it is convenient, to hell with everyone else, especially her constituents
Book Keeper At Arms
I asked you for one thing -- back up your ignorant talk with informed talk. I asked you to make a statement based on facts. Rather than admit you misspoke or believed what the talking heads TOLD you -- you tried to avoiding the facts by claiming it was an "opinion". When shown YOUR OWN WORDS, you then flailed about illogically:
Your first sentence was true. Yes I believe that everyone has and are entitled to opinions. I don't see anywhere in anything that I have written where I limit one to a certain point of view. So your logic is flawed in your first paragraph, the two sentences do not interrelate.
Your second paragraph is a statement, which is true. I did not ask your opinion nor did I assume I knew your opinion. YOU claimed that my question was about your opinions -- I asked you to verify YOUR STATEMENT with facts.
Your third and forth paragraphs were fraught with so many logical inconsistencies that I shall ignore them, however I would suggest reading up on the terms -- Presidential elections US (hint: you cannot elect either Biden, McCain, Obama or Palin for President, they come in matched sets) Great Depression and Civil War.
Finally, wrapping bullsh** in a flag still means that it is bullsh**. Who are you John McCain? Do you think your appeal to patriotism CHANGES what you wrote?
"Palin has a strong record of actually keeping her campaign promises. Not to mention her record on going after corrupt political figures, even if they're in her own party."
You couldn't verify it and you could have just admitted it and walked away with some measure of self respect, but instead you are making yourself look bad.
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