Fact Checking the VP Debate

The website: factcheck.org is a substantial resource for this campaign. Here, I have linked the site's fact checking on Joe Biden and Sarah Palin's misstatements throughout their one and only debate on October 2, 2008.

Fact. Spin. Rumor. Opinion. What Really Matters

Today is the first day of the rest of this presidential election. Pay close attention. Do not get sidetracked. This is a message to myself. I, too, got snookered by small-bore bickering and secondary ephemera. I sat in front of the television and listened as so-called surrogates for the candidates played gotcha with obfuscation, misdirection and outright lies. A presidential election is a game now, and we're not playing, we're getting played. With very few exceptions—hats off to you, David Gergen—nothing being said has much to do with the future of this country or the well-being of its citizens. As a wise woman said to me the other day, talking points and talking are two very different things.

Once again we find ourselves planting our flag amid rubble. Now it is the rubble of the American economy, with great financial institutions faltering and failing and the stock market every which way. Rubble has become the symbol of this country over the past eight years: the still-unaddressed rubble of a decimated New Orleans, the growing rubble on the streets of Iraq.

At such a time, considering whether a tanning bed was installed in the governor's mansion in Alaska amounts to holding a barbecue on the lip of the volcano. For months I have been wondering how anyone could believe that Barack Obama, who has worshiped at a Christian church in Chicago for many years, was a Muslim. Then in the space of a few hours I received dozens of copies of a bogus list of books the Republican vice presidential candidate had allegedly banned from a local library while serving as mayor. The right no longer holds the patent on cyberbull. It is everywhere.

Maybe this campaign, which looked so promising, so dedicated to real issues and real change a year ago, can now get back on course. The debates are nigh, and they are crucial. The country is in a mess. And in November its citizens must decide who has the integrity, the intellect, the principles to steer us out of it.

Voters must become educated consumers to make that decision. They must draw on multiple sources, not just one. They must be conscious of what is fact, what is spin and what is opinion in a media world in which pundits seem to outnumber reporters. For example, here's my opinion: the only good news in last week's economic earthquake was that the political dialogue took a turn toward the substantive. But John McCain took a sad turn—a U-turn—for the worse. For most of the past 20 years McCain was a senator who was sure and stubborn and stood for certain things, many of them things with which I disagree. But disagreement is honorable; shape-shifting is not. In the space of a single news cycle Senator McCain went from being a longtime supporter of deregulation to a man inveighing against the lack of government oversight in the financial markets. He railed against the greed of Wall Street when Wall Street has been the ancestral home of his party.

In a speech after the 2000 race, Senator McCain had this to say about shifting his stance on the flying of the Confederate flag: "I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary. So I chose to compromise my principles." Surrounded by the acolytes of Karl Rove, the carnivorous political operative who once savaged him, with a running mate he seems to have chosen out of calculation rather than the best interests of the country, Senator McCain last week was once again hedging principle in favor of victory. His party has been in power as the country has run aground, yet he and his people try to suggest that the same party with the same people and the same policies will somehow produce different results.

Anna Quindlen
Newsweek
September 29, 2008

Sarah Palin and South Park

A friend discovered an uncanny similarity between Sarah Palin and Principal Victoria from South Park. Primarily, Principal Victoria's voice is less shrill. Among other things.

Triumph the Insult Dog at the Republican Convention

"...So Cool Growin' Up in this Church; Gettin' Saved Here"

Sarah Palin addresses a group of ministry students in Wasilla, Alaska. Listen to and watch more of her religious views here as she gets down with her peeps via YouTube.

Palin on the Issues

Wikipedia is a well-known online resource similar to Encyclopedias of old. I have found some mistakes as posted on Wikipedia from time to time but generally speaking, it is considered a fairly reputable source.

Since there is so little information established about Sarah Palin and her position on issues, I turned to Wikipedia for more information. There, I found a short, sweet list of topics and her purported positions on each. I admit that some of her responses are sharp and appealing, ex: "What will you do with Alaska's new state jet?" A: "Figure out how to sell it."

The following seems to be a fairly thorough listing of her position on the issues complete with referenced citings. These are very similar to that which is published ontheissues.org.

I find it particularly interesting that she is against stem cell research, abortion even in the event of rape or incest, sex education in schools, same-sex marriage (however, in August of '08 she vetoed a bill that denied benefits to gays stating it was unconstitutional). Props for that. She also stated to have smoked pot when it was legal in Alaska. Not sure what year that was, but it's worth mentioning.

Mr. McCain's Soulmate? - by me

Since I've yet to give birth - and it appears that I won't be doing so anytime soon - I'll admit I can't relate to Sarah Palin's obsession with squirting out babies nonstop. Further, her lack of interest or effort in keeping the world's population down via birth control eludes me. She is against education programs relating to sex for kids and openly opposes it as Governor. She also opposes abortion in the event of incest or rape. Fortunately, I haven't had to face the incest/rape factor but I'm really glad she's not my mom just the same.

Most recently she gave birth to a baby with Down's Syndrome. This neither makes her a hero nor extraordinary. But it does make her a parent with added responsibilities to her family.

I hear women state that because of this child, Mrs. Palin will pave the way for families with special-needs children if she becomes Vice President. Really?! Mrs. Palin has done nothing during her two years as Governor of Alaska to improve the lives of children in general and special-needs children in particular. What makes anyone think that she will alter her course if she succeeds in her quest for national office? Not gonna happen.

With her acceptance of the Vice Presidential nomination, Palin's life is now subject to vetting by the pros. Like Britney, OJ and Ted Kennedy, she has made her choice and it's open season. America is comprised of curious folks and the press will undoubtedly deliver. So far, they've not let anyone down. Except maybe Sen. McCain, Sarah Palin, the state of Alaska and Bush fans nationwide. Only Mrs. Palin herself knows what else is in store for us and I'm guessing we haven't seen the last of her past.

I'm all about the underdog particularly when there's a bully involved. And Palin has surely seen her share of bullies since the GOP announcement of her candidacy. But beyond Her Victim-ness is something that undermines any compassion I may have held for her public beatings. Sarah Palin enjoys hunting animals. This just pisses me off beyond belief. Her calloused approach toward animals has thoroughly turned me away from all things Republican at least during this election. I don't do animal suffering and when I hear about anyone setting out to kill for sport, I can only hope the animal has a gun, a jeep, an opposing thumb and 10 Uzi lessons under its belt.

I'm no angel. I don't possess any delusions of or desires for becoming the second most powerful person in the free world. But Mrs. Palin does. I have a healthy fear of public scrutiny and have learned that - following 9 years of union work on a national level - people can be relentless and downright mean when you are standing between where they are and where they want to be.

Frankly, I would rather live in a refrigerator box under the Brooklyn Bridge than have someone broadcast my shortcomings in every national newspaper and on every TV show across America. I have not led my life in such a way that a full-court press would render me anything but a mess. So I'll continue to stay right here, planted firmly behind my keyboard and express my opinions on someone who has chosen the exact opposite for their future.

The whole "mother of five including a pregnant daughter and Down's Syndrome son" smörgåsbord doesn't make her a stronger candidate. It just makes her a distraction. If the Republicans are asking America to keep their hands off her personal life and focus on her professional record, why pass her youngest of five (a four-month old baby with Down's Syndrome) around at the Republican Convention like a shower gift? Instead of protecting her son from national exposure and the venom of reporters, she is using him as a political tool to blur the line between personal and professional choices. She has blown the door open on her family vault and when the press accepted the invitation and stomped through her hallways dirty feet and all, she tried to throw her international stop sign. Too late ma'am. You can't have it both ways.

I am stunned by McCain's choice for a replacement. It's clear that he kowtowed to conservative spindoctors. Bottom line, Sarah Palin is a snapperhead. She needs help; not a new job. And if she's elected, so will we.

In closing, following is the final paragraph of the Vice Presidential Candidate's bio as published on the official page of the Governor of Alaska:

"Palin is a lifetime member of the NRA and enjoys hunting, fishing, Alaska history, and all that Alaska's great outdoors has to offer."

In the spirit of Jay Leno to Hugh Grant following his faux pas with a hooker: "Mr. McCain: What the hell were you thinking?"