Conservatives Upset :Palin NOT the One

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Registered: 09-08-2008
Conservatives Upset :Palin NOT the One
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Sat, 10-04-2008 - 3:59am
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/10/04/dumb/print.html
 
The dumbing down of the GOPWhy aren't more conservatives disgusted that their party nominated a person devoid of qualifications for the vice presidency (again)?

By Joe Conason


Oct. 04, 2008 | Sarah Palin's debate performance should signal the beginning of the end of her fad. But for the moment it is worth looking at the meaning of her nomination, without the protective varnish of what conservatives usually dismiss as political correctness.


Why should we pretend not to notice when Gov. Palin's ideas make no sense? Having said last week that "it doesn't matter" whether human activity is the cause of climate change, she said in debate that she "doesn't want to argue" about the causes. It doesn't occur to her that we have to know the causes in order to address the problem. (She was very fortunate that moderator Gwen Ifill didn't ask her whether she truly believes that human beings and dinosaurs inhabited this planet simultaneously only 6,000 years ago.)


Why should we ignore her inability to string together a series of coherent thoughts? As a foe of Wall Street greed and a late convert to the gospel of government regulation, along with John McCain, Palin promised to clean up and reform business. But when her programmed talking points about "getting government out of the way" and protecting "freedom" conflicted with that promise, she didn't notice.


Why should we give her a pass on the most important issues of the day? Supposedly sharing the fears and concerns of the average families who face the burdens of mortgages, healthcare and economic insecurity, Palin simply refused to discuss changes in bankruptcy law and proved that she didn't know the provisions of McCain's healthcare plan.


All the glaring defects so blatantly on display in her debate with Joe Biden -- and that make her candidacy so darkly comical -- would be the same if she were a hockey dad instead of a "hockey mom." In fact, the cynical attempt to foist Palin on the nation as a symbol of feminist progress is an insult to all women regardless of their political orientation.


There was a time when conservatives lamented the dumbing down of American culture. Preservation of basic standards in schools and workplaces compelled them -- or so they said -- to resist affirmative action for women and minorities. Qualifications mattered; merit mattered; and demagogic appeals for leveling were to be left to the Democrats.


Not anymore.


Actually, the Palin phenomenon is the culmination of a trend that can be traced back to Dan Quayle, the undistinguished Indiana senator whose elevation onto the Republican ticket in 1988 had nothing to do with intellect or experience and everything to do with the youthful appeal of a handsome blond frat boy. (That was how Republican strategists thought they would attract female voters back then, which must be why they believe Palin represents progress.) Quayle too was unable to articulate, let alone defend, the policy positions for which he was supposed to be campaigning. He too had to undergo the surgical stuffing of stock phrases into his head as a minimal substitute for knowledge and thought. And in the same sad way, he too benefited from the drastically reduced expectations applied to anyone whose inadequacy is so obvious.


Quayle deserved more pity than scorn, however, because he seemed to know that he was fighting far above his weight class. Palin evokes no such sympathy, with her jut-jawed, moose-gutting confidence in her own overrated "common sense" and her bullying insistence that only "elitists" would question her expertise.


As Biden showed quite convincingly when he spoke about his modest background and his continuing connection with Main Street, perceptive, intelligent discourse is in no way identical with elitism. Palin's phony populism is as insulting to working- and middle-class Americans as it is to American women. Why are basic diction and intellectual coherence presumed to be out of reach for "real people"?


And why don't we expect more from American conservatives? Indeed, why don't they demand more from their own movement? Aren't they disgusted that their party would again nominate a person devoid of qualifications for one of the nation's highest offices? Some, like Michael Gerson and Kathleen Parker, have expressed discomfort with this farce -- and been subjected, in Parker's case, to abuse from many of the same numbskulls whom Palin undoubtedly delights.


The ultimate irony of Palin's rise is that it has occurred at a moment when Americans may finally have grown weary of pseudo-populism -- when intelligence, judgment, diligence and seriousness are once again valued, simply because we are in such deep trouble. We got into this mess because we elected a man who professed to despise elitism, which he detected in everyone whose opinions differed from his prejudices. That was George W. Bush, of course. Biden was too polite and restrained to say it, but the dumbing down is more of the same, too.



-- By Joe Conason

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-08-2006
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 10:13am



<

It's time for politics as usual to end.


After much thought and research I've decided M/P can do that best.>>


I will have to say McCain has crossed party lines far more often than many of his Republican

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 10:18am

and I hope that should he win .. he can encourage/lead more of both parties to stop worrying about lines and just do what is best.


I think one other issue that bothers me is that b/c Palin has an accent (drops those g's, gosh darn it) and uses phrases like 'gosh darn it' that many think this shows a lack of intelligence.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2008
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 10:37am
Politics as usual would end with McCain/Palin?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 10:40am

no -- just like getting this country back on track isn't gonna happen overnight (or in 4 years imho) regardless of who wins.


Do I think McCain has more potential as the POTUS to cross the lines more often than Obama?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-2008
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 10:50am

And what was so BRILLIANT of Biden...

When he discussed how Article I of the Constitution? He said, "The idea he (Cheney) doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that."

Except Joe Biden. He must have the REAL copy of the Constitution. Dick Cheney and I have the OTHER copy, the one that is hanging in the Smithsonian, the one with Article I that discusses the LEGISLATIVE branch, and states:

Section 1.

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

And goes further to mention in Section 3, clause 4:

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

Joe wants us to believe that the vice president will "preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit...The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress...The idea he's part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney"

Mine must be wrong again, unless Cheney was the author of Article I, Section 3. In my copy, I read in Section 3:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

This means the VP is the non-voting PRESIDENT of the SENATE (at ALL times, Joe, not just when it's time to cast the tie-breaking vote).

So, Joe wants us to think "the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought." In my dictionary, the word "PRIMARY" is defined as:

1. First or highest in rank, quality, or importance; principal.
2. Being or standing first in a list, series, or sequence.
3. Occurring first in time or sequence; earliest.

(from "thefreedictionary.com)

Thus, we would find the PRIMARY role of the VP in Article I. I guess that would be the LEGISLATIVE role. Wow, to think, the founding fathers intended "to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive." And I can see just how "It has been very dangerous." Throughout history, there have been over 225 tie-breaking votes cast by the VP. Those must have been scary and dangerous times, Joe. How did we all survive?

I fully expect the I HEART OBAMA crowd to chime in with, Wait a minute! That was just a little boo-boo! He misspoke! He meant something different! He was tired, it was the end! He misunderstood the question! It was was just a mistake, not a stupid mistake. I bet PALIN didn't know, either, or she should have corrected him!

Yeah, Joe Biden, King of the Brilliant Constitutional Analysis of the office he wants to hold. If Palin had said it, it would have been one more example of how stupid she is.

This from the man who is running on the Ticket for Change--the same man who told America at the end of the debate, "I'm not going to change. I have 35 years in public office. People can judge who I am. I haven't changed in that time."

Change is good. Change the Constitution, but don't change yourself. I guess THAT'S the kind of change his party is looking for. Not me.

If after 36 years in public service, Joe Biden can be acclaimed for getting up in a debate and running a completely misguided and downright stupid diatribe vilifying someone for their proper interpretation of their Constitutionally enumerated primary role in government, and have everyone in America think he's brilliant and his OPPONENT is stupid, I should get into politics.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-08-2006
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 10:53am

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 10:58am

***It's time for politics as usual to end.***


Not likely unless you get rid of the 435 members of Congress and start over.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 10:58am

agree about the red herring ... gotta clarify for me a little what you mean if I answer either or both of these two questions wrong.

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Registered: 03-19-2003
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 11:04am

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Registered: 08-05-2004
Sat, 10-04-2008 - 11:19am

Do I think Biden would be better as POTUS than Palin?

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