DISQUS

SqueakyRat · 1 year ago

Common sense is way overrated, Anne. It's mostly flattery of your audience's prejudices. "We know what matters. We know what's important." Take it back to your suburban cocoon, it probably works OK there. We are facing problems "common sense" of that stripe knows very little about.

rbe1 · 1 year ago

You've got to be kidding me ! Have we lowered the bar so far that it's no longer visible above ground level ? Or are you so ignorant and uneducated that you can't recognize unbridled, disinterested ignorance when you see it ?

anne burkart · 1 year ago

Strange that I have a B.S. and M.S. and an Ed.S. from Georgia State University and passed more tests than I care to remember. And yet, I must be a numb nut or trailer trash to identify with and support Gov Palin. Snarky Ms Fleming is sensing a changing of the guard and she is very very afraid. Women were all supposed to be like Hilary, Steinhem, Wolfe, and NOW. Instead we can be any way we want to be. We can even like men like Todd Palin.lol.

ConservativeWoman · 1 year ago

Let me begin by saying that I worked in investment banking for more than 25 years and I think that Governor Palin is an excellent candidate. Furthermore, I like her spirit and the fact that she isn't a Washington insider. She has at least the qualifications that Bill Clinton had 16 years ago.

Now for the genius of Joe Biden. He thinks we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon? Doesn't he realize that Hezbollah has been in Lebanon for almost 20 years? Now the Lebanese threw Syria out of Lebanon with the help of the French and the US behind the scenes, but I don't recall Biden saying anything about it at the time. But sure let's let Joe Biden talk about Hamas. Let's also let him confuse the West Bank with Gaza. Let's also let him lie that Obama did not support the Palestinian elections that put Hamas in control of Gaza.

"During His 2006 Trip To The Middle East, Obama Met With Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas And Said The Election Represented An “Opportunity…To Consolidate Behind A Single Government.” “Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s journey to the Middle East took him to the West Bank Thursday for a meeting with the man elected to replace Yasser Arafat. … For a time Thursday in the West Bank there was only the clatter of cameras as the newly elected president of the Palestinian authority, Mahmoud Abbas, met with Illinois Senator Barack Obama. At a meeting with Palestinian students Thursday, Obama said the U.S. will never recognize winning Hamas candidates unless the group renounces its fundamental mission to eliminate Israel, and Obama told ABC7 he delivered that message to the Palestinian president. ‘Part of the opportunity here with this upcoming election is to consolidate behind a single government with a single authority that can then negotiate as a reliable partner with Israel,’ said Obama.” (Chuck Goudie, “Obama Meets With Arafat’s Successor,” ABC 7 News, http://obama.senate.gov, 1/12/06)"

The Palestinian News Agency WAFA Reported That Obama Was Supportive Of The Palestinian Elections Being Held At Their Scheduled Time. “President Mahmoud Abbas met Thursday with the U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), in the Presidential HQ in Ramallah…President briefed the U.S. Senator about the latest developments in the Palestinian territories including the preparations for the legislative elections…. Abbas and Obama discussed the means of underpinning the American-Palestinian economic relations…Obama asserted the US supports and eager that the Palestinian legislative elections on its proposed time (January 25).”

deAne · 1 year ago

The problem with your position is that JOE BIDEN WAS FACTUALLY WRONG on almost every issue he mentioned. On some he outright lied (he hangs out at Home Depot?) He wasn't smart. He was WRONG!

slacker · 1 year ago

Politicians lie. On that you can always count. If you look at FactCheck, you'll see that there was plenty of "truth stretching" to go around:

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/factche...

Palin's a sham and her ticket is going to lose.....BIGtime!

Erick · 1 year ago

I thought this was at least moderately fair until the end. No Ann, Obama is even less experienced than Sarah. And no, Joe Biden’s experience is not going to save him or anyone else. Only character and integrity can help now. So if that’s the case it’s a no brainer; McCain/Palin.

I consider your piece and balanced because unlike many liberals you failed to mention that you'd like to see Sarah gang raped. That’s very considerate of you. How can liberals casually spew such vicious hatred?

onion · 1 year ago

the above comment should be taken down. Liberals want Palin gang raped? Ridiculous, and offensive.
Or rather, leave it up, to highlight the fact that the radical republicans are far, far more deluded and "radical" than any who may vote for Obama.

Maine_Voter · 1 year ago

What has Sarah's so-called experience taught her? The woman is still as dumb as a moose.

snizz · 1 year ago

Erick, please point us all the direction of these throngs of liberals that are crossing our fingers for the "gang rape" of Palin. If you're trying to assert that Sandra Bernhard's unfortunate joke was somehow echoed anywhere--ANYWHERE--else in any liberal outlet, you're going to need sources.

Barring that, it just makes you appear to be reveling in some pathological projection, like you are uncomfortably fetishizing this incredibly disturbing image. You're a slanderous creep.

Autumn123 · 1 year ago

"by underscoring her familial and maternal skills." Excuse me? I think any woman who has strong maternal skills, that are genuine, would have been moved to at least say something comforting to Biden when he was talking about the loss of his wife and child. For her, his emotional moment was not part of what she had rehearsed for. It seems all that role playing had only covered how to be forceful with that special "perkiness". See, that's why all this folksiness and "I'm such an ordinary, everyday mom just like you" comes across as such a farce to me. I'm not just saying that because she is the Republican candidate. I think there are more highly qualified Republican women for the VP position. And I "betcha " they would have been able to show compassion to a fellow human being that was in pain. She didn't and probably couldn't, because the impromptu moment wasn't scripted in so she didn't know how to play it. She just ignored it.... kind of like she ignored all the questions that she hadn't been given a script for either.

CDW · 1 year ago

Can I call you Vlad?

Tahut · 1 year ago

You can't really be serious? Since when did the American public start rating their leaders on a curve? I can't believe people are giving her creditability she has neither earned or deserve.

Margaret · 1 year ago

I have a Masters Degree and a CPA certificate and I think Sarah Palin is great. I studied political science as an undergraduate. The elitism in this article is concealed until the end.

Joe Biden had so many factual errors in his statements during the debate. Just one small example: he confused Gaza with the West Bank. And he is the one who has been sitting in the senate for all those years and was selected for his foreign policy experience.

New mother at 42 · 1 year ago

I may be out of line here, but... Common sense? Exercises/diets so intensely that no one knows you're pregnant until you tell them...at seven months. At 44 and over seven months pregnant, flies from Alaska to Seattle to Texas and then (with ambionic fluid leaking) passes up excellent medical facilities at each stop, flies back from Texas to Seattle to Alaska ... and drives to her hometown clinic (that has no special facilities for a high risk pregancy/birth). Again, maybe I'm out of line, but I believe in the combination of leaving something in God's hands And Taking Responsibility in addition to using Common Sense. Or did she want to leave that baby in God's hands?

I'm sure opposed to placing this country/world in the hands of such a woman.

Warren Metzler · 1 year ago

I find it fascinating that people are incapable recognizing Sarah for who she is. It is patently obvious to me that she cares less about the real issues underlying a situation, always going for the catchy slogan to present as her "expertise"; which was repeatedly demonstrated in the debate, and in all her public speaking since being nominated. I defy a person to find a single issue that Sarah has an in depth understanding of. And, by the way, having an in depth understanding of an issue is not synonymous with being a policy wonk; so Hillary, who is a policy wonk, is not necessary deeply informed about any issue.

Yes, Joe is pompous, and quite often divorced from reality; and has been so for most of his political career. But his deficiencies don't lead to Sarah being competent to lead anything. Note her popularity is tanking in Alaska as this campaign is progressing.

And is no one bothered by her repeated lying, such as claiming she rejected the bridge to no where; when a major point of her campaign for governor was to support it, and after it was canceled by Congress, she kept all the money and spent it on Alaska projects. And her claim to cut taxes, when there is no income tax or state sales tax in Alaska. And do you honestly believe this women reads the news section of a single national or international periodical???? If she did, Katie Couric wouldn't have stumped her with that question. No one, regardless of how nervous they are forgets the name of periodicals she reads every day.

Frank G Randazzo · 1 year ago

I find Palin an insult to the mature women of this nation who have worked hard to be heard. Now is their opportunity and along comes the prime candidate herself, a new "hotlips" like that of "Mash' the comedy hit of at least 20 years or more. It seems to me that she has put the womens movement back 20 or more years. Let's hear for Sarah Palin.

Maine_Voter · 1 year ago

In Sarah's world it's okay to be foggy on the facts, to not show any interest in history, to not be able to id any newspapers you read, to not be able to recall any Supreme Court cases you disagree with (not even Exxon Valdez), to not grasp what a VP does, to have so little interest in the outside world that you don't get a passport until 2007, and to not even blink tho you surely know you have no business serving as VP. With the right spin, that just proves you are a Washington Outsider!

That's not a new breed of woman, but a very poor failure to vet by McCain.

Deborah Rael-Buckley · 1 year ago

She's alot of "wonking" and no policy, that's what I say about Palin. She is the quasi "real people" vp candidate, who has been turned into a vicious, lying, attack dog seeking to cover up all of the lacks and missteps of the McCain/Palin ticket. It will NOT work because she has been proven to be vacant on her own issues and woefully unprepared for the highest office in the nation. In choosing her to be his running mate, McCain fails the American people on all accounts and has taken a Rovian-win at any cost approach. Her new role as attack dog is proof that they have nothing left to fight with, nothing appealing or substantive to offer the American public-the result...attack, attack, attack. Barak Obama is still fending off the sometimes racial tinged attacks, but he remains on his message of tax relief, economic checks and balances, health care, global security and fairness.

magginkat · 1 year ago

Paylin's winks, hair tossing, & other teen-age girl shenanigans is beyond absurd. I find it hard to believe that anyone takes this floozie seriously. She, the silly teenager, seems to be signaling the star quarterback that she will hop in bed with him or anyone else to achieve her goals. One good bit though, she makes McCain look like the doddering old fool that his is and has been.

Moira · 1 year ago

I fervently hope that it's not true that Palin is the template for the new female politician. I hate to think that that being vapid and pernicious is the new ideal to which women must aspire if they want to make a place for themselves in politics. Palin embodies the "feminine = ignorant" stereotype that many of us have been fighting against for years.

gerimay · 1 year ago

You are so right. I don't want women to be ignorant girls, like they were back years ago.
As you said so well "Palin embodies the "feminine = ignorant" stereotype that many of us have been fighting against for years".

California crone · 1 year ago

elite: Roget's II: The New Thesaurus
Main Entry: best
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: The superlative or most preferable part of something.
Synonyms: choice, cream, crème de la crème, flower, pick, prize, top, cream of the crop, flower of the flock, pick of the bunch

Sounds good to me :-)

gerimay · 1 year ago

I can't believe any woman would support this type of candidate. The floozie flirtie ignorant joe 6-pack type. Where are we headed ?

NikkyM · 1 year ago

The problem with Palin's "common sense" is that it's more like nonsense. I don't find her ideology honest, nor helpful to the middle or working class. One of her tricks is spewing ugly prejudices disguised as values, often shared by her constituents. I find her a power-hungry figure disguised as a friend to the working class community. But she is not, in fact, working to raise the working class' standards, neither financially nor morally. Signed, An educated woman who works for a very modest living.

ScottPruden · 1 year ago

Do we REALLY want the idiots to be in charge?
I personally recognize the President and Vice President to be public SERVANTS; they work for US
WE are THEIR bosses. This nonsense about an imperial Presidency leads to absolute power in the hands of lucky MORONS. I want the most 'elite' people possible for the hardest job in the world; if they screw up, we FIRE em and get somebody else.

fac · 1 year ago

Just because it's said she's running on common sense, doesn't make it so. She's running on ideas that are wrong, and are being delivered in the most divisive, nasty way.

double w · 1 year ago

McCain's job as a candidate was to choose someone that could step into his pace at a moment's notice should something awful happen. By choosing Palin in an utterly cynical attempt to drag in votes, he has demonstrated that he simply doesn't care about anything other than finally outranking his dead father. After a career of dressing up his spoiled-brat behavior as fiery passion while making backroom deals to line his pockets, he has destroyed the final shreds of his own dignity and will die a bitter and lonely old man if he loses the election.

D. Swan · 1 year ago

Perhaps, oh heck, I could be wrong, but being "unabashedly feminine" for me includes being HONEST about how one treats others, and paying attention when one's family is in crisis, like when one has a young family and a pregnant, unmarried teenage daughter, who will need her family, most specifically her mom, when that baby is born. The winks and blinks and false folkiness mask raw ambition and misplaced loyalty, not a cute-as-heck babe.

And her Christian touchstone? Balderdash...underhanded dealings, hatred and racism have no place in a Christian person's heart or mouth.

Kwaayesnama · 1 year ago

Sarah Palin and me.

I wish to share my views on Sarah Palin with you; she and I have a lot of things in common.

My education matches hers it took years for me to earn my degree taking a few courses at a time here and there, so I guess I have that in common with her.

I was president of my PTA and an officer in my woman’s club we have that in common.

I was a soccer, baseball, and basketball mom, so we have that in common.

I own a small business where I make out budgets, so you could call me an executive that is another thing we have in common.

I am married to a Joe six-pack, but he says he is a Joe 12 pack, I wish we did not have that in common!

I have three children and five grand children, she’s catching up to me.

I am a catholic and have never had an abortion. I used birth control when I was too old to safely have a healthy child.

I will be voting for Obama. Why? Because I would never presume that I have the intellect and education to be 1/2 a breath away from being the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. It takes more then charm and snappy remarks to have a finger on the nuclear button. That is something that speechwriters and pundits can’t teach a candidate in a few weeks. Sorry I want intelligence running this nation. So this white, Catholic 61 year old, Republican grandmother will be voting for Barack Obama.

Howie Kurtznot · 1 year ago

"What she represents finally is a turning of the dial, the torch being passed to a new generation of women."

Let's see if I've got this straight: The torch has been passed because Palin is a monumental disaster, who has accelerated the collapse of the McCain campaign?

What a concept.

Chris Censullo · 1 year ago

The "thing" that Palin represents is nothing new. Her disdain for ideas in general and contempt for details and rigor in intellectual endeavors have been preached before, in other lands and during other times. Her trading of science for gut instinct, scholarship for the easy answer, and hate for those who work hard in learning about issues was at the heart of another political movement, this one in Germany in the 1920s. The banner of "anti-elitism", in fact a whipping up of the downtrodden against those who tried hard in school, and "country first", in fact a whites-only racial pig dressed up with lipstick, is exactly what was carried by the Nazi party into power in 1933 in Germany. Add into the mix the conscious diverting of working people's economic anxiety to easy targets of people of color, immigrants, and "smart" people, and you have rallies with hate speech and the attacking of reporters that would make Adolf Hitler beam with pride.

Palin is nothing new, in fact, her politics are old enough to be feared.

Chris Censullo · 1 year ago

And another thing, how stupid to Palin/McCain think people are? They parade around the country criticizing "government" when they both have made a substantial living on the people's payroll. McCain has NEVER HAD A JOB IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, from his career in the military to the House and then the Senate. He's been living off of our taxes his entire life, as did his father and his grandfather. And yet, we cannot have access to the same health insurance choices we've been paying for him to have his entire life?

Patricia McCarthy · 1 year ago

It seems Ms. Fleming thinks only unsophisticated rubes can possibly find Mrs. Palin a viable candidate. This is just more elitism camouflaged in nicer words than Steinam or Dowd. That she assumes Biden has better command of the facts is simply wrong. He made colossal errors and misstatements of fact in the debate, errors of the magnitude that would have brought Palin's withdrawal from the ticket had she made even one so serious. I'm quite certain that Ms. Fleming thought Bill Clinton was ready to be president and that she thinks the wholly unqualified Obama is. How does one square that with the facts we know? Palin has accomplished much more than Obama, and on her own, without a bevy of nefarious characters to boost her along. I am a woman pol, I have an advanced degree in American History from a major university and I find Palin to be smart, a quick study (unlike Obama), and with a rare common sensical world view that America needs at this moment in time. Ms. Fleming should be a bit more careful when writing about exactly who supports who and why. She hasn't a clue.

zeke · 1 year ago

One need not be an unsophisticated rube to find Palin viable as a candidate. One can also be a dishonest, disingenuous and sophisticated ideologue. One who hopes to protect her own wealth and status by pulling the wool over the eyes of working class citizens; one who pretends that candidates who favor corporate welfare and tax breaks for the rich are actually champions of the middle class. Unfortunately for these selfish elites, the "rubes" out there seem to have learned their lesson after eight years of rule by an intellectual nonentity and a vicious oil profiteer. As we rubes like to say, in our inimitably alliterative manner: you can put populist lipstic on plutocratic politician, but that porker is still a pig.