Remember My Fundie Mom, The One That Decided To Vote Obama?

I've posted a few times about my fundamentalist Mom, who after having an epiphany, has decided to vote for Barack Obama. I have been afraid that McCain's choice of fundamentalist Governor Palin might change her mind. I decided to be a little pro-active in that regard and put together an e-mail for her regarding this newest VP hopeful. I copied it to a few friends as well. Here it is, for anyone interested:



Hello,

This past Friday, I was stunned to hear of John McCain's choice of running mate--Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. For a while, I had focused my thoughts on this choice in a strategic way--how did McCain feel that Governor Palin would help him on the ticket when he made this choice, etc. Since then, I have become more interested in who Sarah Palin is as an individual. What I have found is frightening. So, since John McCain didn't appear to fully vet his choice, here's my vetting of that choice for you.

This is a video clip of a statement Governor Palin made some 30 days ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qOUIiLL9uM

"As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?"

I originally thought that video was funny. But after digesting that, it doesn't seem so funny anymore--now it just scares me. Here's the first reason I'm scared:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

The average male life expectancy in the United States as of 2008 is 75.15 years. John McCain turned 72 on Friday--the day he named Governor Palin as his running mate--and Senator McCain has been diagnosed with skin cancer 4 times.

Statistics aside, it's very important that we become familiar with exactly who Governor Palin is if she may one day find herself in the highest position of power in the country. We should start with the basics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

From Wikipedia, note Sarah Palin's resume:

Governor of Alaska, December 2006 - Present
Chairperson, Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, 2003 - 2004
Mayor of Wasilla, AK, 1996 - 2002
City Council Member, Wasilla, AK, 1992 – 1996

For contrast, this would be Barack Obama's resume:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_obama

United States Senator, Illinois, January 2005 - Present
State Senator, Illinois, 1997 - 2004
Professor, Constitutional Law, University of Chicago Law School, 1992 - 2004
Counsel, Civil Rights Litigation, Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, 1993 – 2004

The McCain campaign appears to feel comfortable with Governor Palin's experience level, even though it has criticized Barack Obama's relative lack of experience. To make the contrast between these two individual's experience level more clear, please consider these population figures:

State of Alaska, 683,478
City of Wasilla, 5,469

State of Illinois, 12,852,548
City of Chicago, 2,833,321

Now that we have the basic qualifications aside, what else does Wikipedia have to offer us on Sarah Palin? Not much, according to this:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94118849

"On Friday, 15 minutes before the rumor that John McCain had picked Palin as his running mate, a Wikipedia editor discovered 30 mostly favorable changes had been made to the Alaska governor's profile."

I took it from the above article that I could not trust Governor Palin's Wikipedia entry to give me any honest insight on her character, so I decided to look elsewhere on Wikipedia, and the internet, and here are a few interesting things I found out about her:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Public_Safety_Commissioner_dismissal

"Alaska Governor and presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee for the 2008 United States presidential election Sarah Palin is currently being investigated by an independent investigator hired by the Alaska Legislature<1> to determine whether she abused her power when she fired Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan.<2><3> Palin said that she dismissed Monegan because of poor work performance. Monegan said that his dismissal may have been tied to his reluctance to fire Palin's former brother-in law Mike Wooten. Several news sources have referred to this controversy as Troopergate."

And she apparently has a history of this kind of behavior:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/another-dubious.html#more

All this struck me as odd--did the McCain campaign really vet this person, or was it a last minute choice? When I watched her speech on Friday, I couldn't help but notice this bit:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94118910

"I think as well today of two other women who came before me in national elections. I can't begin this great effort without honoring the achievements of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and, of course, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who showed such determination and grace in her presidential campaign."

"It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."

Since hearing those words it has occurred to me more than once that this pick may have intended to accomplish one goal--secure the votes of angry Clinton supporters that have not made up their mind who they will vote for in November.

I wonder if this ploy will work--having supported Clinton myself early on, before switching to Obama during the primaries, I find it insulting that Governor Palin would come onto the scene so late, and with so little experience in comparison to Clinton, and essentially say that where Clinton failed, she will shatter that glass ceiling. Governor Palin, frankly, is no Senator Clinton...

Governor Palin, in fact, found Senator Clinton's performance during the primaries as potentially degrading to women:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEUG0XZ9OpY

So which Governor Palin is telling the truth here--the Governor on Friday who held up Senator Clinton as a woman of accomplishment, or the Governor in the video above that felt that Senator Clinton made women look bad in light of her "whining". I'm beginning to get the impression that Governor Sarah Palin has questionable character. Let's look into her character further...

The clip below contains foul language. I include that warning for my mother, who will be a recipient of this e-mail. In case she does not feel inclined to listen to this next clip, (and I recommend that she does in order to really see who Governor Palin is), here is a summary:

Governor Palin in December 2007 had an argument with Alaska State Senate President Lyda Green, (also a Republican), because Governor Palin wanted to move up the State of the State address a few hours on the night it was to be presented to the Alaska legislature, and Senate President Green did not want to do so.

Palin was invited to speak via telephone to a conservative radio show that is broadcast in Alaska, and the hosts used their time with Governor Palin to call the Senate President a "cancer on the State of Alaska", as well as a "term commonly used to refer to a female dog".

And how did Governor Palin respond: By laughing.

She wrapped up that phone call by telling the hosts, "God Bless".

By the way, Alaska Senate President Lyda Green is a cancer survivor.

Here's the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKkydrUnBZE

So why did John McCain choose Sarah Palin as his running mate? What did he see in her exactly? Well, People magazine asked him on Friday, and this is what he had to say:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20222685_2,00.html

PEOPLE: Sen. McCain, of all the candidates you considered, what drew you to her?

JOHN MCCAIN: Obviously, I found her to be very intelligent and very well-versed on the issues. But I think the important thing was that she's a reformer. She's taken on special interests since she ran for the PTA and the city council and mayor. The courage, I guess, is what most impressed me.

In the end, I'm left wondering, what does all of this have to tell us about the judgement abilities of John McCain--the man asking us to make him our next President?

Jeffrey

I hope your mom sticks with her vote and isn't swayed by the collective orgasm the cable news tools are having over this pick.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :hi:

The comparison of Obama and Palin omitted education. His is Columbia University and Harvard Law School, with honors (cum laude). She was graduation from University of Idaho, no honors and no grad school.

It will never be simply Obama versus Palin. It will be Obama-Biden versus McCain-Palin or Obama Biden versus Palin and her VP pick. Or, Biden and his Vice Presidential vs. McCain Palin or versus Palin and her pick. pick So the whole Obama Palin comparison is bogus to begin with.

In the Senate, he has deal with war, Homeland Security, foreign policy. She has no experience whatever with that. He has been thoroughly vetted. She will never be. And running his campaign for the last two years has been a lot more of an accomplishment than her running Alaska for 20 months. And lets not forget the mess in which she left Wasilia.

I had a whole list of things running through my mind when I put this together.

I meant to include, but forgot:

1. The debt she left Wasilla
2. The number of times McCain actually met Palin
3. Her limited statements regarding her knowledge of Iraq
4. Her limited travels abroad

I should have thought of the educational background issue as well...

I respect Christians - ones who follow the teachings of Christ. Christianoids are a different matter. They would embarrass Jesus as much as the the Pharisees, who wore their religion on their sleeves and valued money over love, did.

From what I hear about her, Palin is firmly planted in the latter group. What McCain hopes to put in play with her selection is the instant grassroots organization of the fundamentalist churches. Hopefully, the members of those churches, having been burnt badly by the Bush administration, will not be used again.

Significantly higher than cum laude

Hopefully your mom will still vote for JoBama....


:thumbsup: :applause:

Who cares about the $20 mill she left her home town in the hole.

bookmarking for future reference!

Just sent her the e-mail right before posting it here. I told her last night to check her e-mail today, that I was planning on sending her something on Governor Palin.

I'm very interested in hearing my friend Heather's reaction to this e-mail. I copied her on it. She's a lurker here and will probably find it a most interesting read.

I'm amazed at how very much more is coming to light on Palin. Since posting this here I have been reading everyone else's posts and hitting a few blogs out there. I could have written a book on Palin if I would have researched this more...

I have to pay $4.50 and attend meetings and help with school activities.. I'm not in it right now because my son is actually in the Pre-School of this school, and I'm not exactly sure if this schoo will be his main elementary school when he starts Kindergarten.. The pre-school doesn't do much in regards to the rest of the school.. But that's all it takes. I'm sure she said, let me be president.. and the 4 other people in the room said, OK.