Jack & Jill Politics

Looks Obama did more vetting of Miss Alaska than McSame did...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13084...

He's so smart, never caught unprepared.

Hello dear, DEAR fellow JJP'ers:

I thought that to lighten things up I would share this lovely tidbit sent to me earlier. I did a bit of checking and noted that immediate links don't go to this fact...but if you check further, the winner of the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant seems to have been...

a SISTER!

http://www.marylineblackburn.com/

http://www.mahalo.com/Miss_Alaska_1984

Happy Tuesday!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

Probably the most depressing thing about Palin is not her selection but the defense of it. It has produced a parade of GOP spokesmen intent on spiking the needle on a polygraph. Looking right into the camera, they offer statement after statement that they hope the voters will swallow but that history will forget. The sum effect on the diligent news consumer is a feeling of consummate contempt for the intelligence of the American people -- a contempt that will be justified should Palin be the factor that makes McCain a winner in November.

VAL: "> > > >spiking the needle on the polygraph . . . " ROTFLMAO!!! :>) :>) :>)

2 MUCH!!! :>) :>) :>)

I came across this article about the US Weekly and although I laughed . . . I now feel sorry for Sarah Palin. Still can't afford to have her in the White House but woman to woman - I feel sorry for her.

McCain REALLY did this poor woman a disservice.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/liveblogging/2008/09/h...

From the NY Times:

In Alaska, several state leaders and local officials said they knew of no efforts by the McCain campaign to find out more information about Ms. Palin before the announcement of her selection, Although campaigns are typically discreet when they make inquiries into potential running mates, officials in Alaska said Monday they thought it was peculiar that no one in the state had the slightest hint that Ms. Palin might be under consideration.

“They didn’t speak to anyone in the Legislature, they didn’t speak to anyone in the business community,” said Lyda Green, the State Senate president, who lives in Wasilla, where Ms. Palin served as mayor.

Representative Gail Phillips, a Republican and former speaker of the State House, said the widespread surprise in Alaska when Ms. Palin was named to the ticket made her wonder how intensively the McCain campaign had vetted her.

“I started calling around and asking, and I have not been able to find one person that was called,” Ms. Phillips said. “I called 30 to 40 people, political leaders, business leaders, community leaders. Not one of them had heard. Alaska is a very small community, we know people all over, but I haven’t found anybody who was asked anything.”

From HuffPost:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/rn...
"Hurricane Sarah" Whips Up Mixed Reactions at GOP Convention

"And The Beat Goes On" [Sonny & Cher] :>) :>)

From The HuffPost:
Arianna Huffington hosted a luncheon at the RNC Convention.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffingto...

Her introduction included the appropriate MENU SECTIONS - Maybe MOOSE STEW [Palin's favorite], QUAILS [shot by VP Dick Chaney], she choose SALMON. :>) :>)

Following that, she presented her VIDEO DIARY with responses to the question: What was your first reaction to the Palin announcement?

My fav: He wanted LIEberman. So since he couldn't have him, I think he said SCREW YOU to the Party - "I'll choose someone that you don't want!" :>) :>) :>)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffingto...

Palin's Lobbyist Has Abramoff Ties
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/...

"Tell me what the conservatives would have said if this happened to Obama? "

It happened to Obama - that's how he was born.

From The Washington Independent [Anchorage, ALASKA]

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/3767/palin...
Palin: The Iron-Fist Mayor

If a small-town mayor ever ruled with an iron fist --it was Palin. Eleven days after taking office in 1996 she mailed letters to each of the city's top managers requiring that they resign as a test of loyalty.

Huh???

From HuffPost:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/mccain...
John McCain Fought Teen Pregnancy Programs

John McCain has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require POOR teen mothers to stay in school OR lose their benefits.

Palin herself said she opposes funding sexual-education programs in Alaska.

Well, guess they ARE SOULMATES!!! :>) :>)

From the HuffPost:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/what-i...
What If Bristol Palin Was Black [Cenk Uygur]

She'd be "s".

Rob M: :>) :>)

Best.Article.EVER!

Please make this a main post, and email it to all your friends!

Jay: I have, for the most part, agreed with Mr. Uygur's articles. :>) That's why I share them. :>) :>) Glad you did 2. :>) :>)

Phyllis Schlafly on NPR this morning: "If she [Palin] had been a Democrat she would have had an abortion"

Check out original comment, and the OUTRAGED responses, on this thread: http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2008/09/the-s...

I don't know if any of you know this, but apparently Palin was a member of the AIP ( Alaskan Independence Party), a secessionist group. Here is a link:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09...

.Now it all makes sense.See when her water broke she hopped on a plane for 11 hours so her child can have Alaskan citizenship.

This is equivalent to Obama belonging to the Black Panthers. This shit is unbelievable!

Hell, the New Black Panthers posted an endorsement on Obama's website and Hannity & Co. went after Obama for it.

The Republicans WANT you to attack Palin -- that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but at least be aware of the forces at work here. McCain is no darling of the Christian Right, who still distrust him after he attacked them in 2000 (and got his @$$ handed to him by the evangelical). Pulling Palin into the race not only solidifies but also energizes the evangelical base.

The playbook in this part of American culture is to wave the red flag at progressives and get them to attack someone perceived as authentically faithful. This then reinforces some evangelicals' belief that they are a persecuted minority misunderstood by an increasingly hostile mainstream. Nothing energizes a base like this narrative (does it sound familiar?).

Anyway, the point of going after Palin may not be to wedge her from the evangelical base but to drive her away from the middle and paint her as "out of the mainstream." I don't think there's much we can do to change any evangelicals' minds who have jumped onto the McCain-Palin train to get off now: these charges of "hypocrisy" sound logical from the outside, but from the inside, as several commentators of evangelical blogs I was cruising this weekend point out, there's a deep awareness that "We are all sinners" and besides, it's Palin's daughter, not Palin, who was having premarital sex. (OK, fine, Palin gave birth to her first child less than 9 months after she got married, but anyway...) The conservatives who would attack Malia if she were in the same boat are NOT the same ones as the ones defending Palin (pundits don't count: they're not real people).

This is too bad, because Obama was making serious inroads with the evangelical community, and despite pundit criticism of his Saddleback performance, I think he did well enough to spook the McCain campaign back into the arms of the religious right.

So our real target here is the moderate middle, the swing-voter Independents, the ones who may not go too deep in for Jesus but who want things "normal," and to them, Obama's very ordinary nuclear family may feel a lot more comfortable than McCain's constellation of homes and Palin's coterie of out-of-wedlock babies.

If the Republicans are offering Palin as a whipping post, then they ought to know that it ends up hurting the entire ticket--as well as down-ticket candidates in state and local elections. In any event, attacking Palin's weaknesses and lack of experience doesn't SIMPLY play into the hands of the Repubs ...

it's appropriate to do so.

If the Repubs are hoping that Palin will energize Christian evangelicals, they're off base. Even if you include Barack's mediocre appearance at Saddleback, he has already established his evangelical Christian bona fides. As such, the attacks on the Christian Right have been replaced with critiques of hypocrisy and selective Biblical adherence. And this has moderates and independents thinking seriously about Obama.

Ronnie, I think we're in agreement on most things here. It's just helpful to know that part of what has kept evangelicals in the Republican pocket is the belief that they are "safe" and "understood" there, and that forwarding the "hypocrisy" attack will reinforce that, EVEN IF it also pushes moderates away from McCain. All in all, I don't think this is the year that we'll bring the evanglicals into the party, but if we can just win in November, I think we'll see very different electoral alliances in November 2012. So I agree that it's both appropriate and strategic to go after Palin right now, I'm just pointing out the costs.

Evangelicals and liberals believe in compassion, justice for the poor, and increasingly, stewardship of the earth. Pro-business Republicans and evangelicals have had a very uneasy marriage -- the time is coming to break it asunder. Paliln may have given them a reprieve.

Question: why isn't there space to talk about sex education and condoms and the failure of abstinence only approached to the issue? They love to talk about it when Britney Spear's kid sister gets knocked up... Why not discuss the policy? Palin is trying to win women's votes she her anti choice stance should be discussed.

I'm with you, evita... It's not about any one teen. Just listen to Republicans at the RNC and nationwide respond along the lines of, "Teen pregnancy has happened to a lot of our conservative families, and we have adored the grandchildren..." So, if it's occurring this often, why not look at the policies which are contributing?

The vast cultural divide between conservatives and liberals as that conservatives prefer to examine personal choices while liberals prefer to examine policy structures that shape those choices. Neither one alone is quite right, which is what I love about Obama: he argues that we have to care about policy AND the choices we make.

Not all pro-life evangelicals think the same on this either, and not all of them choose ideology over practicality. Sex education can include birth control AND abstinence. The problem is, the more the far-right sees this as a culture war, the more they overlook the AND possibly and insist on making it OR.

Abstinence-only is a failed policy. As a practical matter, abstinence + condoms just makes sense. But it's a little like a Biblical literalist admitting that Genesis isn't the whole truth: the entire worldview begins to collapse unless you find something else to build it on. Those who have gone through that collapse have rebuilt an even stronger faith, but it's not a pleasant process and not one everyone has the luxury to undergo when there are bills to pay.

btw, I found this blog particularly insightful because the author seems truly torn, and is analytical, not just reactionary:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/

"Many on the left struggle to make sense of the Christian conservative response to the Bristol Palin pregnancy. They seem to think that the lack of strident condemnation is a sign of gross hypocrisy. If we Christians really believe what we say about teen sex and abstinence, then we should put a scarlet letter around Bristol Palin's neck. The fact that we aren't, but rather are praising the expectant mother for choosing life over abortion, is taken as a sign that we're willing to give a pass to expectant unmarried teenagers -- as long as they come from our side.

Let's concede that they have a point, though a weak one."

Off topic, I went to the "What about Our daughter's" blog. The owner of the blog complains about name calling, but calls Obama supporters acolytes. That whole Messiah meme pisses me off. Sorry I just had to vent. From reading her other response she doesn't take dissent well.

MMMMmm, she doesn't take dissent at all. I made the mistake once and came away with my ears boxed. Which is why I seldom revisit, and if I do I lurk. It's her blog, she can do with it what she wants and it appears that what she wants is an echo chamber. So okey dokey - moving on...

I totally agree with you about the Messiah meme.

Yes, she does not take dissent too well. I wrote a comment about the republican party ad, that she posted about and she went off --to my surprise. As women we must defend ourselves and our daughters. It's imperative. I am a feminist, a woman and I have three girls. However, I am getting a strange feeling that her blog is anti male (some of the sites she has on the sidebar are definitely anti black male and the owners of those blogs comment on her blog frequently). It hurts me to think that a sister who champion for other sisters are anti male, but I do get that from her blog.

Correction. The blogs that were very anti black men had her blog on their side bar. Not the other way around.

"Babies...Punishment vs. Love. I think I’ll take love."
She wins. Discussion over.

How touching ... gotta love that compassionate conservatism ...

I guess, out of wedlock love only applies to white people ... cause we know how much Republicans love to talk about those irresponsible blacks and their out of wed lock baby making ... blah blah blah ...

It's all about love now. I got it.

*smirks*

Palin's a gimmick. And in politics, gimmicks don't work.

Don't think this is a distraction? Distractions work. Case in point: Same sex marriage. Bush. Ohio.

Lord have mercy, the former mayor of this town is now the VP pick on a major party's ticket......the whole world is laughing at us:
http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/a-phot...

I wish Tim Russert was alive. His interview with her would have been a thing of magic...

I'm open to anyone wanting to create a faux script of what that interview might look like. lol

EARMARKS
Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

Earmarks - she was for them before she was against them.

There couldn’t be a clearer difference between conservatives and liberals than this one…

Obama…

“If my daughter makes a mistake, I don’t want her punished with a baby”

Palin…

“As [our daughter] faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.”

(also… "Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.”)

When I, myself, became pregnant in college, my soon-to-be mother in law (a hard-core liberal Democrat who had openly encouraged me to have un-married sex with her son) expressed her “disappointment” in both of us – and immediately pushed for an abortion. My own mother (a sex-before-marriage-is-sin Catholic) immediately comforted me, affirmed her love for me and said, “There’s always room in our family for another baby.” My husband and I have been JOYFULLY married 21 years and have 4 amazing kids…. What an beautiful gift of love my mother gave me that day!

Babies...Punishment vs. Love. I think I’ll take love.

Look out JJP, it's a Republican spambot attack.

Punishment vs. Love, or Beards Over Babies?

You're up to 200 points. A free McCain / Palin button for you.

How long did it take you to come up with this made for TV movie script?

lol You GOT to be kidding me? How conveniently your truth pits liberalism against conservatism... Ridiculous. Tell me what the conservatives would have said if this happened to Obama? It would have called into question his family's values. No one is talking about values. Obama is saying its a private matter and asked the main stream media to back off (the coverage.) That said it doesn't mean that ordinary condom using Americans can't sit back and say, this is what happens when you or anyone doesn't sit down and explain how condom and sex works. It wouldn't be a big deal if she wasn't banging the drum of ABSTINENCE. Liberals have acknowledged that ideally that is the best way to avoid being pregnant, but we must still EDUCATE on the PROBABILITY that people (especially teens) will do what they want to do.The Bible clearly didn't assist her teen's family planning or value system.

Stop blaming your boyfriends mother for YOUR own mistake. Babies arent mistakes, unplanned pregnancies are. God bless Bristol for having parents CAN AFFORD to support this teens. MOST AMERICANS CANNOT AFFORD THIS MISTAKE.

Sarah Palin is unfit to be VPOTUS. She is an extremist hardliner with no experience and no capacity to make her own policies work in HER OWN HOME.

You are psychotic. Get help

I think I'm beginning to suffer from "Sarah Palin" fatigue, and yet, there's probably more to come.

I think she's going the way of Harriet Miers and then McCain is allowed to slip in a real SOB for the VP ticket - someone worse than Palin, and I know that's entirely possible, so we'd better fasten our seat belts - it's going to be a bumpy 64 days until the election.

Jeb Bush?