Night Train

You say that.   Then you say this?

What does Palin's SAT scores have to do with the issues?  Didn't you JUST SAY mentioning anything but the issues is CRAP?  So are you willing to admit you're talking crap yourself?  Do you happen to know Biden's SAT scores as well? 

Spoken by a (closet) liberal perhaps?  Because you ain't making any sense to this conservative. 

Besides........... let's see............. the first thing I saw on the news this morning was all about Troopergate in Alaska.  Issues?  And the Dems are NOT in a panic? 

Not a thing other than she is not bright enough to understand the issues.

and Biden is almost as much of a joke.

How do you know how bright Palin is?

That is a valid and relevant issue. It relates to ethics and abuse of power, and when she could possible be in a position as powerful as the VP, or perhaps even president, it's more than relevant. And something you all seem to be forgetting, that investigation started BEFORE she was named VP, and she in fact WELCOMED the investigation, and only after being named VP did she turn around and say/do the opposite.

We are there with the respective host nation's consent.  With respect to Iraq we have approval from the UN and the current geovernment of Iraq.  Both want us out of Iraq at some point in the near future.  It will make no difference who is President,  when Iraq's government and our government reach an agreement for us to leave we will leave.  They can also as a sovereign nation tell us to get out and we would have to leave or risk being declared to be in an illegal war.

I don't think that are current positions in Germany, Japan and South Korea are comparable to our position in Iraq.  I also think our sending the US military to Iraq was misguided and of no genuine value to us.

I pay quite a bit of attention. 

I know a lot of very smart people and many of them, most of them, would likely not make very effective public speakers and would stumble a great deal on any number of topics.

I interview people for jobs all the time and many of them are highly intelligent but cannot coherently speak about topics that they are familiar with let alone having to cram in a bunch of trivial-pursuit like knowledge on arcane issues like who voted what on some piece of legislation a decade ago.

As someone who has been on national TV a number of times, I can tell you, it's a lot tougher than it looks to speak intelligently on topics -- even when you're being interviewed by people who want you to do well. 

As for the middle class, I wasn't aware it needed to be "rebuilt".  I don't know many people who wish they could go back in time and live in say the 1950s or even 1970s.

It's hard to look at people who have multiple cars, TVs, 2000+ square foot house, DVD players, iPods, lots of activities for their children, whose biggest health issue is trying not to get fat and conclude that they're somehow getting screwed.

Palin is Bush in drag.  Just as fundamentalist, just as deluded, just as ignorant, just as dangerous.

Her "knowledge" comes completely from cue cards and reading teleprompters. 

She's not the least bit qualified to hold national public office, let alone be a heartbeat away from the most powerful leadership role in the free world at a time when our country needs expert, competent, worldly stewardship.

If I asked Palin about the Khmer Rouge, she'd go blank, or talk about energy, or perhaps claim she tried that shade of lipstick but it didn't work for her. 

You know she would.

We don't need another moron, "buddy", puppet, or pitbull in the White House. 

We need a leader, a PRESIDENT.

This isn't American Idol, for god's sake.

Alaska panel find Palin abused power in firing

Troopergate report: Full text

Ask those people how they are affording those perks. They may end up telling you that don't. They may tell you that they have multiple credit cards, most maxed out, and are on the verge of loosing all of it, because they wanted it all, but couldn't afford it in the first place, and now they don't know how to get out. Keeping up with the Jones's had just bitten them in the ass, and they are not liking how it feels. I would rather be lower middle class, single mom, struggling paycheck to paycheck, with a single loan of $5000.00, than those people(yes, I shared a bit of myself). All I ask for is health insurance and taxes to be lowered, so that I could live on my modest income (that is not suplimented by food stamps, welfare, or child support.) and be able to save something on the side. 401k at this point is a crap shoot.....but hey, I will let it ride.

[/rant]

Which report were you reading?

Report full text (pdf)

The bipartisan panel (10 republicans, 4 democrats) found that she DID violate the Alaska Ethics Act. It wasn't the sole reason, but a contributing factor. It also found that there were at least 19 calls from her husband (using her office) and various other aides pressuring for Wooten to be fired (Todd admitted telling anybody who would listen about his complaints against Wooten). They have given so many different reasons for firing him (insubordination, drinking in his patrol car, going on a lobbying trip to DC to get money to fight sexual violence [are you serious? and this was later DEBUNKED because he did get permission from one of her aides], and in the report Todd Palin said another reason was because Monegan was complaining that Trig wasn't in a proper car seat, etc).

Yes, she followed procedure in firing Monegan, and was within her right to do so, but the issue is that a contributing factor was personal interest (as the statute and report says) and that her family was in fact pressuring to get Wooten fired. She then denied any wrongdoing, violating the trust of the Alaskan people.

The investigation by the personnel board (appointed by the governor) is still on-going.

And I assume you think O-ra-ma-ba-ma is qualified?

Wow, that's a scary thought.

Let's not compare apples to oranges here!  The forces in Germany, Japan and S Korea were there in response to ongoing conflicts, and remained afterwards to make war reparations and establish security in those regions... now to maintain strategic bases offshore. 

In Iraq, however, it was an uninvited invasionary force, sent there on a pack of lies. (WMD's????).... and now ( for fear of wholesale slaughter in Iraq and subsequent international condemnation) the US does not know how to extricate itself from something it had no business being involved in... Bush had an axe to grind and lied to the American people (the World) about Iraqi WMD's.

I was going to post this myself... beat me to it cos obviously I was in bed 'downunder' when it was released.

The fact that there were 10 Repubs (6 more than the Dems) on that invesigative panel gives it greater credibility/legitimacy...

.. thus removing possible accusations it was all an Obama/Biden/Democrat plot to discredit Palin.. though no doubt the Repub faithful... er, fanatics will still try regardless.

I'd never heard of Sarah Palin prior to McCain's announcement that she would be his running mate - why would I have (down in Oz) when she was a 'nothing' and therefore irrelevant - but this Troopergate report seems to bear out my instant initial reaction (to seeing video footage of her) that she is clueless, and therefore slimy to cover her arse/further her own self-serving causes.

I did not like the woman then.. much less so now.