(no subject)

[catsittingstill]

Tony Auth has a great cartoon on the Republican VP. 

I found it at Pharyngula.

There's also an interesting letter about her running around on the internet. 

NPR also did a couple of stories on her career in Alaska, but I don't have them handy.

I don't think people should diss her because she's a working mom.  I *do* think they should diss her support of bad policies like abstinence-only sex ed and banning abortion.  I *do* think they should diss her support for teaching creationism and her assertion that global warming is a hoax.  I *do* think they should diss her for abuse of power issues like trying to ban books (and then to fire the librarian who stood up to her) and trying to get her ex-brother-in-law fired (and *really* firing Alaska's top cop for standing up to her.) 

 And I *do* think they should diss her for her hypocrisy in claiming she told the federal goverment "thanks but no thanks" on the "bridge to nowhere" when what she actually did was *take* the money but not build the bridge.  That's not reforming anything.

Just sayin'.

Comments

[maiac.livejournal.com]

The email from Anne Kilkenny is authentic (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-kilkenny)

However, the email that lists "books Sarah Palin wants to ban", allegedly from the minutes of a Wasilla Public Library meeting, is a hoax. It's true that Palin asked the librarian whether the librarian would cooperate with book banning (http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.html), got an emphatic NO, and a few months later fired the librarian for "not fully supporting" Palin. But there are no reports, much less records, of Palin targeting specific books.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Yes, Anne Kilkenny is a real person, really knows Sarah Palin, etc. I heard her interviewed on NPR before I ever saw her lettr.

It is also true that there is no record of what books Palin wanted to ban. The e-mail listing specific books is a hoax. It is a matter of public record that Palin asked the librarian how to ban books, got a frosty answer, and let the matter drop for a while.

Regarding the difference someone else noted in a comment to this entry (which I don't see on LJ at the moment for some reason) that Palin asked for the librarian's resignation rather than firing her--that's technically true but I see zero practical difference.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've figured out what the problem was--the comment wasn't to this entry. My bad.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Y'know, she has every right to run as "the conservative's conservative", on a platform of censoring "harmful" books, banning abortions, teaching creationism, and banning gay marriage, if she wants to. Some people want that from the government, and we'd see who would get elected.

When she tries to pretend she's a reformer who has always opposed pork and earmarks, when she's been walloing in the stuff all her political life, that's another kettle of fish, and there ought to be sanctions for it.

In fairness, it seems that every OTHER politician in Alaska, both parties, has also made lifetime political careers out of sucking money out of the lower 48 for Alaska and spending to a degree that would make LBJ blush. They have no need for a state income or sales tax up there, and the Alaskan nickname for the rest of the country is "The Tit". And apparently they also spend a lot of time talking about what wusses the rest of us are, and they are right because we keep on feeding them tax money and getting kicked for our trouble.

How they figured they could get away with dressing up an Alaska politician as a "fiscal conservative" is beyond me.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

The two big buried issues of this campaign were feminism and radical-right Christianity, and now we have Palin who embodies both. McCain's choice of Palin has shifted the US political landscape, perhaps forever. Unfortunately, Palin seems to be Nehemiah Scudder in a skirt--she turns out to have Dominionist ties. Based on her Alaska record I would prefer that she have no public office, not even dog-catcher.

What are we going to do if she becomes President?

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Palin_Won_t_Do_Interviews_Until_Treated_with_Deference

She gets the vapors and declares herself too delicate to take any tough questions until they agree to treat her like a Tender Sweet Young Thing, and that's supposed to embody feminism? I don't see it.

Radical Right Christianity, sure.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

[edited for a second thought]

She embodies--literally--the issue of feminism in the campaign, even though she opposes many ideas now accounted feminist. In like manner, Obama embodies an idea of racial tolerance, though he's no firebrand. Words like "vapors" and "delicate" come off as sexist, and Palin's supporters are going to use them against us. Let's not give them ammo. As far as I can tell Palin is a tough, charming fanatic, very good at divide and conquer, and I hope her opponents carefully consider their responses. I've already written a bunch about her and a reasonable progressive response; I can see I'm going to be writing more. Bleh.

[(Anonymous)]

I have to disagree with you on one thing; I don't think a candidate with anti-woman policies "embodies" feminism, just because she has woman parts.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Drat--that was me, Cat.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

When Nichelle Nichols was ready to quit the original Star Trek, MLK personally talked her out of it, because she was the first non-stereotypical black character on national television. Appearance counts. Palin is the first woman Presidential or Vice-Presidental candidate who rural and western women can identify with. So, even though she's anti-woman in many ways in her public life, and apparently her personal life--"Sarah Barracuda"--for many women she's an icon of women's empowerment.

Sigh.

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I watched her speech, wanting to get a feel for who she was before reading other people's takes on her--and I thought, what a mean-spirited snarky person!

And I thought, McCain keeps saying he'll work with the Democrats, and he won't put up with partisan sniping. And he picks her?

Now I read that she got a town of approximately 5,000 people with new debt of over $22,000,000...what on earth would she do to our national budget? And she did to create a sports complex, in a town without a sewage treatment plant? And she claims to be anti-pork? And a "fiscal conservative"?

Sigh.

And we haven't managed to push through the election reforms that the last two presidential elections showed were (and still are) needed to ensure a fair and accurate count of the votes can happen. (Didn't the people proposing paperless electronic balloting read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress?)

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Snopes has a collection of these letters, BTW--they provide confirmation of the source of the Kilkenny letter.

Short article on Palin by Canadian investigative journalist Charlie James.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Some of the letters are apparently hoaxes, btw.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

Other problems with Palin: Bad management.

During her tenure as mayor, the City of Wasilla tried to buy land from the Nature Conservancy for a hockey rink. When the city failed to sign the papers, the Conservancy sold it to someone else. Wasilla sued.

Initially, Wasilla won. The other buyer appealed, and eventually the judge reversed himself.

Unfortunately, by then, Wasilla had started building. Total avoidable cost: approximately $1.3 million.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122065537792905483.html

Corruption!

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Seems Sarah Palin has been paying herself extra for staying at home. After her fanaticism, Palin's sense of greedy entitlement is striking. She is even more blatant than W. Bush in that, it seems.

What's the difference between Palin and Muslim fundamentalists?

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Lipstick. Hee hee hee. I love Juan Cole. (Salon Webzine link--pay or watch a commercial.)

Re: Corruption!

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

Else-LJ, I saw a link to some of the shenanigans surrounding "Troopergate", and the attempts of a McCain ally to have the instigating Senator removed because the investigation had become politically charged and motivated.

My response:
Cry me a river of Whitewater.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Account of her religious beliefs. At one time, at least, she was a young-earth creationist and believed that the rapture would occur in her lifetime. It appears she has moderated her views some. But, still.

Is anyone having the horrifying feeling that McCain/Palin may win?