>> ^thinker247:
I love the comparison of Hillary's years of experience versus Palin's hop-step and a jump into the Oval Office.
Think about this for a second:
I am 28 years old. If I become mayor of a tiny town in my state of Idaho, then become governor, in 2016 I could be on the ticket for President of the United States. And why not? I live a few hundred miles from the Canadian border, so I have the same amount of foreign policy experience. I went to college in Idaho. I've never hunted wolves from a helicopter, but I could learn! If Palin can do all of this and be on the ticket, what's stopping me? Or anybody else?
WTF?!


Oh, who the hell are you kidding.

your foreign policy fails.

The only threat that Canada poses on the states is making fun of your beer too hard.

I love the comparison of Hillary's years of experience versus Palin's hop-step and a jump into the Oval Office.

Think about this for a second:

I am 28 years old. If I become mayor of a tiny town in my state of Idaho, then become governor, in 2016 I could be on the ticket for President of the United States. And why not? I live a few hundred miles from the Canadian border, so I have the same amount of foreign policy experience. I went to college in Idaho. I've never hunted wolves from a helicopter, but I could learn! If Palin can do all of this and be on the ticket, what's stopping me? Or anybody else?

WTF?!

I live in Wyoming. Now Wyoming doesn't border on another nation, but Montana does, and Wyoming borders on Montana. Therefore I have some expertise in international relations, but admittedly not as much as Montana residents.

You know, the ocean separates Alaska and Russia, and the ocean also separates California, Oregon, and Washington from Russia, China, Japan, Philippines, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Palau, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Antarctica. Therefore the 47 million residents of those three sates have TONS of experience in international relations and foreign policy.

And think about all the countries that lie across the Atlantic from the East Coast and Gulf Coast residents. Foreign policy experience up the ying yang! Jesus, no wonder America is so well respected in international relations!

Now where is Pakistan?

this is part of why they say the media is liberal-biased,... you have to bust conservatives' balls for 5 minutes to try to get a basic question answered.

Interviewer - "If foreign policy experience is so important, where is Gov. Palin's foreign policy experience?"
McCain Supporter - "... well, Obama sucks, so... I don't have to answer that."

Ouch. Poor guy... he just has no idea how to defend this woman's foreign policy experience because there really is no way to do it.

Here's the e-mail being sent out to the MoveOn-a-nites:

"Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:


She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2

She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7
This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team

Sources:


1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=2


4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=7

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=8"

Aceofclubs hit it on the head. She's anti-abortion (which really means she's a traitor to her gender), a shill for the gun lobby (which I can't imagine any sane mother being), and as Crosswords pointed out, she's got a safe face (apologies to Geraldine Ferraro). She's going to be little more than a talking head that the Neo-con base can feel good about.

While Biden was chosen to counter that Obama lacks Foreign Policy experience, Palin was chosen because she's not really going to do ANYTHING as VP except make McCain look good. That's WHY no one has told her just what the VP actually is supposed to do: Cast a Tie-Breaker vote in the Senate. That's all the VP really did (up until Cheney decided to re-write that part of the Constitution.)

I can't imagine why former Clinton supporters would go for this. It'd be like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Unless they're really that stupid anyway (cough* http://www.videosift.com/video/Chris-Matthews-Battles-Full-On-PUMA-Inanity *cough)...

Democratic ticket VP right here, him and Obama would make a formidable team with his foreign policy experience, credentials, and clear articulation.

I also want to point out the defining characteristics, in my mind, of those Democratic candidates we've left behind:

8. Gravel -- angry about something (they never really let him talk about what)

7. Kucinich -- Fought against corporate corruption in Cleveland, Ohio. Promised to repeal NAFTA, to instigate a carbon tax, and bring our troops home as quickly as possible. According to several online political quizzes, closest match to my own views. (Oh, and a hot european wife, something I also strongly support)

6. Biden -- Passionate, and by far the most experienced with foreign policy. Not really terribly resistant to business influences, though.

5. Dodd -- Passionate, well spoken constitutionalist. Wants to kill FISA by any means. Wants to ensure Bush & co. are brought to justice for their crimes. Father was one of the prosecutors at the trials at Nuremberg. I'd love to see him as Senate Majority leader.

4. Richardson -- Good foreign policy experience. Hispanic. Didn't seem to have much in the way of policy differences between himself and the top three.

3. Edwards -- Son of a millworker. One-time senator of North Carolina. Spoke passionately about the economic division in America (the two Americas). Had a voting record that didn't back up hardly any of his rhetoric. The early favorite of the kossacks.

2. Clinton -- Wife of someone famous, not sure who. Apparently has already served two terms as President, not sure how she's not in violation of the 22nd amendment. Sat on the board of directors at Wal-Mart. Led a failed initiative for Health care reform in 1993. Has been planning Presidential run since before being elected to the US Senate in 2000 (since she was 12, some say). Currently proclaims to be a freedom fighter for the disenfranchised in Florida. Was oddly silent on the issue in 2000, and even as recently as February, 2008.

1. Obama -- Inspirational speaker. Limited experience, but has shown good judgement. Has passed legislation in favor of transparency in government in his short time in the Senate. Opposed the Iraq war from the start (like Kucinich and Gravel). Has run a fantastic campaign.

My preference in July, 2007 was "anyone but Hillary". Obama wasn't my first choice. Kucinich was, but I knew he'd never make it. I followed the kossacks in supporting Edwards, until it became clear in South Carolina that he was done for.

I praise Obama highly, but he's my 3rd choice. The media buried all the rest.

If the media could, they'd bury him too. They sure have done a good job of keeping Hillary propped up.

I usually cringe at ad hominem attacks, but these are particularly necessary for a monster like Bush. He thinks he's saving the world by destroying it. He has no foreign policy experience, and his sycophants only fuel his misguided fire. I will be having a party on January 20th of next year.

I'd vote for the guy if he had more then.. zero foreign policy experience. When he talks about some of his ideas for things like Iraq, they are very often naive and short sighted.

However, I think he'll make a great vice president with enough power to get some great work done.

>> ^Engels:
I love folks that say Obama has no foreign policy experience. His father was an African finance minister, and he spent many formative years in Jakarta. What the hell do you want, blood?


Yeah, his hands, covered in blood. Like a butcher! YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Oh wait, what are we talking about?

I love folks that say Obama has no foreign policy experience. His father was an African finance minister, and he spent many formative years in Jakarta. What the hell do you want, blood?

Do you mean he doesn't have experience sitting at press conferences with heads of state, or at state dinners yuking up on other dignitaries? Yep, in that scenario, he may have less experience than Clinton, who has probably gone shoe shopping with Raisa.