Five Questions For Sarah Palin
Charlie Gibson scored the first interview with the GOP VP nominee, and Progressive Alaska has some interesting background on it, including the statement from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis that Palin won’t do interviews “until the point in time when she’ll be treated with respect and deference.” Also notable is the take from Josh Marshall who offers further background on this interview coup.
Here some things I’d like to know.
1. Your husband was a member of the Alaska Independence Party, and you addressed them with a welcoming video for their most recent convention where you congratulated them on the good work they do as a positive force for Alaska. Does that mean you agree with their mission statement, which is to secede from the union? If not why did you offer them such praise?
2. You are presenting yourself as a reformer who opposed the Bridge to Nowhere and who eschews earmarks. Why did you repeatedly express support for the bridge during your 2006 campaign and say that Alaska should accept earmarks “while our congressional delegation is in a position to assist”? As a “reformer” who is hailed as having fought against big oil, why did you accept so much of your 2002 campaign money form Veco when you ran for lieutenant governor, and why did BP Oil help sponsor your inauguration?
3. Why did you ask the Wasilla Library Director, Mary Ellen Emmons, about the banning of books if your intention was not to do so? Are there books you feel should not be available in a public libarary and, if so, what are they? Why did you attempt to terminate Ms. Emmons? Were employees fired as tests of loyalty and do you believe that is a proper way to assess someone’s value for a job?
4. When your campaign put out a statement announcing that Bristol Palin is pregnant, your family praised her by saying, “We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby…” Why should other families be denied the opportunities to make their own choices in such matters?
5. You addressed your former church by saying that our military in Iraq is “on a task from God.” Do you believe our invovement in Iraq is God’s will? Your former pastor, Ed Kalnins, who leads the Wasilla Assembly of God Church, said of John Kerry in 1994, ”If you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation.” Kalnins also said of those who criticize President Bush, “…it’s not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for Hell. That’s what it’ll get you.” Do you agree with him? If not, why did you choose that church and that pastor for your spiritual guidance?
Alan, your #5 question has a false premise. Palin never asserted that the military in Iraq are “on a task from God”. Here are her words, as can be seen in a video from Huffington Post:
“Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” she exhorted the congregants. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”
There’s a difference between what you wrote (that she said it IS a task from God), and what she actually said (praying that it be a mission from God).
September 8th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Succeed: to follow in sequence and especially immediately.
Secede: to withdraw from an organization (as a religious communion or political party or federation).
Not that I’m too concerned about it but without fixing the simple mistake, a rightwinger will soon be along claiming Alan meant something by it that he didn’t.
September 8th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
yap, interloper has a point there, i think.
UN scientists estimate that meat production only causes about 20% of global warming gases.
September 8th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/510378.html
apparently palin did support the bridge to nowhere.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
How about this little gem I just came across…
At some speech that Palin gave to that Alaskan Separatist party she totally was never even involved with at all, she said, “The fires of hell look like glaciers compared to my hatred of the US government.”
Note: Still to be authenticated. You can be sure the Democratic bloodhounds in Anchorage will be onto this one!
September 8th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Personally I’m all in favor of the union succeeding. Success to the union!
September 8th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
“Palin never asserted that the military in Iraq are “on a task from God”. ”
The Associated Press disagrees:
“Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God,” she said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_iraq_war
“yap, interloper has a point there, i think.”
Nope.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
“Palin never asserted that the military in Iraq are “on a task from God”. ”
The Associated Press disagrees:
“Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God,” she said.
://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_iraq_war
“yap, interloper has a point there, i think.”
Nope.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
palin attended to conventions of this alaskan separatist group and her hubby was a member of the group. she gave that “welcome speech” video for them too. so she actually particiapted in three conventions of these separatists.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
It is odd that she would appear at the Alaskan Independence party convention in 2006. I wonder why she hates her country so much that she would support those from her state who would separate from the U.S.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
correction: palin attended two conventions of these separatists.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
“Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God,” she said. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God’s plan.”
YAP, CRYPTO HAS A POINT THERE.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
because she is a politician. the alaskan separatists probably have a lot of support around wassilla.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
interloper, maybe you didn’t post the whole quote there.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Were the Luftwaffe pilots in WWII who flew bombing raids over the people of London, killing thousands of civilians “heroes, on a mission from god”?
Were the Japanese kamikaze pilots who attacked US warships and targets killing many in WWII on missions from god? Were they heroes? How about the pilots who attacked Pearl Harbor? Heroes too?
Italian pilots who bombed and strafed Addis Abba, Ethiopia for Mussolini’s fascist armed forces in 1939 on mission from god? Heroes?
How do you feel of the pilots of the Enola Gay and aircraft who dropped nuclear bombs on citizens of Hiroshima and days later, again on Nagasaki? On missions of god? Heroes?
Was Senator McCain on a “mission from god” when he flew 23 bombing “missions” against the people of Vietnam? Do you consider him a hero for those actions. What do you think the family and survivors alive today think of John McCain?
September 8th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
1 question for anyone–can you list Senator Obamas 5 biggest accomplishments? Too hard? OK, can you name any accomplishments? HAHAHA OH yeah, I forgot community organizer. You got me again. You wascally wiberals.
September 8th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Were the Jake and Elwood Blues on a mission from GOD?
September 8th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Why is Obama so obsessed with China’s infrastructure? Just seen him bragging about Beijing to O’Reilly. Far superior to ours. HAHA He plainly told Bill O he was coming after his money. “You can afford it.”
September 8th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
“Were the Jake and Elwood Blues on a mission from GOD?”
Yes, but they and their band finished the mission with their jailing in Stateville prison.
September 8th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Sorry, Alan, but MediaMatters has informed us that Gibson tossed her softballs.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200809040021?f=h_top
“In a September 3 interview, World News anchor Charles Gibson did not challenge the claim by Sen. John McCain that after Sarah Palin obtained millions of dollars in earmarks as mayor of her Alaska home town, she “learned that earmarks are bad” when she became governor and said, “No more for my state.” Rather than challenge the claim, Gibson asked an unrelated question. At no point did Gibson point out that as governor, Palin, by her own account, requested hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks for Alaska just this year, and other media outlets have noted her earmark requests as governor. The Seattle Times reported on September 2 that the request was “more, per person, than any other state.” ”
guess what? ABC ISNT AIRING THAT PART OF THE INTERVIEW!
its on the website, though.
September 8th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
repubs resort to personal insults.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Alan …you forgot to ask her when she stopped beating her children.
Sheesh..you are such an idiot…..didn’t you get the memo?
September 8th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Anybody catch Bill Bennett today. Hilarious. He really nailed the retard bearing bitches. Great radio.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Ummm….hate to break it to all you little kool aid drinkers here but Obama and Biden BOTH voted FOR the bridge to nowhere….TWICE.
You might want to close that can of worms up again…oops, too late…….
September 8th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Whats up with these polls? How did McCain get ahead? Stay by your phones fellow liberals, Obama needs us.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
God Bless MTV.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
God forbid something were to happen to Obama, and Joe Biden became President.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
At least Palin’s pastor didn’t God Damn America.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
e. grogan: some excellent, excellent talking points!!!i’am sure God would be appalled at all the murder and destruction credited to him. what about free will?? humans are not mere puppets,i just don’t see God’s “fingerprints” on the horrors you mentioned above.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
All great questions that I doubt Gibson will ask her. I’d most like to hear her answer to the first three.
Too bad Tim Russert isn’t around to ask her these questions. :( Somehow I doubt that she’s going to do Meet the Press anyway though.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Hi Alan:
Take a look at the Wasilla Assembly of God website where they do a nice clarification piece on their teachings with regards to what their pastor said
http://wasillaag.org/index.php s=au&nid=3731&news_id=8216
I thougt it was well put.
Thanks.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Michael –
Yeah…no chance in hell they’ll allow her to go on Meet the Press. They’d rip her a new a**hole!
September 8th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Gwen,
Palin’s pastor:
He is gonna strike out His hand against, yes, Wasilla; and Alaska; and the United States of America. There’s no exceptions here—there’s none. It’s all.’
Not that different from what Obama’s pastor said
September 8th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
http://www.citizenpained.com/2008/09/charlie-gibson-will-probably-toss-palin.html
Oh please, don’t forget how Charlie Gibson oozes “deference” to McCain in interviews…
of course that’s how he got this interview.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
How about this. Hawaii has looked to secede for a long time and recently both Obama and Biden voted in support of it. Oh ya check this out. When ever I get on a plane I ask God to get me to my destination if it is his “Will”. When ever I look to take a new job I ask God if it is his “Will”. Oh ya, I pray for your troops all over the world and ask he to take care of them and that we are there for the right reasons if it is his “Will”. I guess I am radical.
Oh MTV sucks. That guy is such a Jack Ass but you gotta love free speech. The only place in the world he could get away with it.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
obama and biden voted for hawaii to secede? link?
September 8th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
palin’s former pastor says alaska will be a refuge for the good guys in the last days.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Thanks Alan.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I know this isn’t quite what the topic is, but I can’t help to complain. Keith Oberman is “interviewing” Obaman. It really isn’t interviewing-Oberman is telling him what to say. Talk about BIAS. And trying to listen to Obama talk is like trying to listen to a record that is skipping all the time. Too many Uh, Uh, Uh. WHAT IS HE SAYING? Not a good speaker at all!!!
September 8th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
the corporate media has not focused on palin’s links to alaskan separatists.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
palin heard a sermon at her church by a guy who thinks terrorism against israel is from God.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13098.html
palin heard a sermon at her church by a guy who says terrorism against israel is from God.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
I know this isn’t quite what the topic is, but I can’t help to complain. Bill O’Reilly was “interviewing” Obama. It really wasn’t interviewing-BillO was telling him what he really meant to say. Talk about FOX BIAS. And trying to listen to O’Reilly interview is like trying to listen to a record that is skipping all the time. Too many Uh, Uh, Uh. WHAT IS HE SAYING? Not a good interviewer at all!!!
September 8th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13098.html
palin heard a sermon in her church by a guy who thinks terrorism against israel is from God.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
o’reilly said he was going to resign if we didn’t find wmd.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
palin has more experience than obama? link?
September 8th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
but i think obama knows that soc sec is a govt program. unlike the current occupant of the white house when he ran for president the first time.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
obama has been a US senator for a few years, i think. palin has been governor for 2 years. obama has foreign policy experience. palin has none.
mccain has never been a governor. does that mean palin has more experience than mccain?
September 8th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Jessie,
Obama is a Senator, just like McCain is.
Palin is a governor of a state with 25 times fewer people than the *city* I live in.
She was, however, a beauty queen.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
a lot of people voted for bush. obviously that was not too smart.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
SCOTTSOPERSON, tell me what foreign experience Obama has? I am listening to him on TV. He is nothing but a SOCIALIST. Where in the world does he think the money is coming from for ALL THE GOVT PROGRAMS HE WANTS?!!!! He is living in a dream world. Wake up people. I’m about to vomit.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
mccain is a socialist. mccain voted for the medicare drug plan. socialism.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
obama passed a loose nukes bill regarding russia.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
jessie is a racist.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
while obama was in iraq he helped to get our troops out of there.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Jessie,
Goodness, what is it that you don’t like about Obama to get so het up? Because he is black and did not interview with O’reilly to your satisfaction?
September 8th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13098.html
palin heard a sermon in her church by a guy who thinks that terrorism against israel is from God.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
DKS,
Why do you think Obama is a socialist? I have never heard him identify himself as such. Also, which government programs does Obama support that you do not agree with?
September 8th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Scottsoperson’
Your linkage re Hawaiin Secession:
en.wikipedia.org…….The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007 ( 310. H.R. 505). a bill currently before the United States Congress, is commonly known as the Akaka Bill after U.S. Senator Daniel Akakam D-HI, who has proposed various forms of this bill since 2000. The Akaka bills proposed between 2000 and the present seek to establish a process for Native Hawaiians to gain federal recognition similar to the recognition that some Native American tribes currently possess.(l) the House version of the bill (H.R. 505) passed on October 24, 2007 (2).
September 8th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Allan, how about a question about all of these earmarks to the University of Illinois made by Obambi? Ya know, the same University of Illinois that also employes William Ayers?
http://www.electiongeek.com/blog/2008/03/13/obama-releases-his-long-list-of-earmarks/
Interesting stuff on that list, huh?
September 8th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Continued, (Scottsoperson),
http://www.hawaiireporter.com……..”The only advocate who was comprehensive and charismatic was Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL, who shared personal insights as a former resident of Hawaii on how the bill will help Hawaii.”
Continue reading at this sights, as they are very pro-democrat, and clearly acknowledge the legislations possible linkage to secession.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Preston Gralla blogs for Computer World dot com. Look at his number five prediction for Google INC in the next 10 years and how it relate to Sarah Palin
http://blogs.computerworld.com/google_at_20_top_five_predictions
September 8th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
UM CARA, Obama doesn’t have to say he is a socialist to use socialist programs,. Income redistribution is a socialist idea, univeral health care, free education for all through college. Taking away the capitalist incentive is socialist. Why should I work hard for anything? Why work at all? The government will take care of me.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
ad, your link did not work. i will try it again.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
i think mccain supported the medicare drug plan. socialism.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
ad, your link does not work.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
DKS,
I live in Brazil (am a U.S. citizen, but living and working in Brazil), a somewhat less rich a nation than the US, and yet somehow they manage to be able to afford universal health care. I think the US can probably manage it too, and I seriously doubt that it will suddenly remove your will to work.
Is Obama calling for free education all through college? Not an idea I disagree with, but I haven’t heard him state it.
Do you thus oppose McCain’s support for a progressive tax system? Is he also a socialist?
September 8th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Scottsoperson,
http://www.hawaiireporter.com…...”Analysis of the Akaka Bill Legislation”, Legislative Bulletin on H.R. 505-Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007., by Russ Vought and Sarah Makin 10/28/2007 8:09:48AM.
Very long analysis, stick with it as the “secession” analysis is rather far down.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Scottsoperson,
Could you just take 2 seconds, and “google” it yourself then? (sheesh!)
September 8th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
UM CARA, You missed the point. But actually, I do think most government programs are not what the original constitutional framers had in mind. The whole idea to start a new country was to keep the government out of our lives. We just seem to accept more and more and more government control.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Ad Rem,
Scottsoperson is a troll – ignore him
September 8th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Shell is to become the first western oil company to sign a deal with the Iraqi government since the US-led invasion of 2003, that could be worth up to $4bn.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e72e708a-7dec-11dd-bdbd-000077b07658.html
September 9th, 2008 at 12:04 am
Um Cara,
Ahhhhhhhh…..much appreciated!
September 9th, 2008 at 12:04 am
DKS,
I do get your point, it isn’t about whether we can afford it, you don’t think it constitutional and you consider these types of programs socialism…
But I would still ask how is the progressive tax system, that almost all politicians support, not ’socialism’ by what I consider to be your very broad definition?
My point would be that there is more than Republicans and Socialists – we actually can have some social programs without being ’socialists’. Even the most conservative main stream republicans support some social programs, but you aren’t (to my knowledge) denoucing them as socialists.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Again,UM CARA, I meant to say this in my last blog. I am not judging you, but I have to say this, your thinking is what many people in the US are thinking..I am entitled to whatever I want. And the government is supposed to help me get it. That is socialism.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:08 am
a somewhat less rich a nation than the US
Perhaps due to free health care?
they manage to be able to afford universal health care.
From wiki: The public system is still grossly underfunded and lacking quality, though that’s been improving greatly in the last few years.
So, no, they can’t afford it yet.
will suddenly remove your will to work.
To each according his ability, to each according his need.
Is Obama calling for free education all through college?
I think that he wants to provide college education in return for agreement to work in certain social programs.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Jessie said “Most of the country is NOT stupid enough to vote Obama into office”
nor are they even more stupid to elect McCain/Palin.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:16 am
There’s nothing in the Constitution that says we have to be capitalists, and Jesus would probably tell you that capitalism is the surest path to Hell.
And there’s nothing that says we can’t borrow from any philosophy ever invented.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:16 am
DKS,
I really don’t think people are thinkng that. Obama is talking about specific programs, like universal health care, not let’s give everyone whatever they want.
It is a social program that I agree with, and I’m not a socialist – I’m a liberal, and I’m a liberal who pays a lot of taxes, and I have very good private health care. It’s not a benefit I am looking to receiving personally, it is something I feel my fellow Americans deserve, regardless of whether they work for as good a company as I do. It’s something that I feel a country that pays 50% of the world spend in military can afford.
It is a shame that once someone has been diagnosed with a serious condition they are chained to their current job for the rest of their life. If they lose their job, they lose their insurance, and they then have a pre existing condition that makes it impossible to get insurance. Come on man, we can do better than that for our fellow citizens.
To me, socialism is when we turn all our pay over to the government, and they dole it back out to us all equally, and no one is calling for that.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Pino,
LOL, no I don’t think the reason Brazil is poorer than the U.S. is due to universal health care.
RE: the quality of the public health care, it is definitely not equal to the private health care in the U.S., though the private health care here is right up there with the private health care in the U.S. Doctors actually give you their cell phone numbers and encourage you to call them! I just about passed out the first time that happened.
At any rate, the poor public health care here, as the wiki refers to it, is certainly a hell of a lot better than the almost complete lack of public health care in the U.S.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I have very good private health care.
I also have very good private health care. This year I will pay more than 3 grand to obtain the benefits of that health care in copay, not to mention the monthly costs taken out of my pay.
It’s something that I feel a country that pays 50% of the world spend in military can afford.
Its not the “can”, its the “should”.
once someone has been diagnosed with a serious condition they are chained to their current job for the rest of their life
Agreed. Health care should not be provided by the employer, but rather be made affordable enough to be purchased on your own. Like auto or home insurance.
Come on man, we can do better than that for our fellow citizens.
Other than advocating the taking of my money for this cause, what have you done on a personal or community level to accomplish this goal?
September 9th, 2008 at 12:28 am
- Its not the ‘can’, its the ’should’
And we most certainly should. With our huge military spend we are currently helping other countries be able to pay for these types of benefits for their citizens since we are providing defense for them allowing them to spend less for defence and use that money to pay for these types of social programs.
- Agreed. Health care… puchased on your own..
There would still be the problem that people would lose jobs or have other financial crisis, then not be able to pay insurance for some period of time, then be in trouble with the same pre existing condition stuff
- other than… taking of my money… what have you done..
Most of my charitable work has been working with habitat for humanity in building homes, not towards providing health care. On a personal level I have helped with my parent’s and my sister’s health expenses (not everyone would be able to afford this)
PS. How do you get the italics working on your quotes?
September 9th, 2008 at 12:37 am
no I don’t think the reason Brazil is poorer than the U.S. is due to universal health care.
Me either. However, the thinking behind it goes a long way.
though the private health care here is right up there with the private health care in the U.S.
Q.E.D.
complete lack of public health care in the U.S.
You understand, yes, that the heath care I have costs me money? So, if we are to provide free, it is free(?), how would my plan differ from the free one?
September 9th, 2008 at 12:37 am
“You understand, yes, that the heath care I have costs me money? So, if we are to provide free, it is free(?), how would my plan differ from the free one?”
Yes, my private plan costs money too. Private plans around the world are always better than the public in that same country. You would probably be able to get treated more quickly, use more recent/expensive drugs, etc.. The public health care is always better than no health care.
(and please, tell me how you get the italics working, I’m jealous)
September 9th, 2008 at 12:43 am
“interloper, maybe you didn’t post the whole quote there.”
Au contraire. It was the AP that cropped the quote. As I said the actual video of that is at Huffington Post. It’s clear from watching the video that she was praying that it be a task from God, not declaring that it was a task from God. Why cite a cropped quote from the AP when the full video lets you see it with your own eyes?
September 9th, 2008 at 12:44 am
re: QED
My point was not that private health care is not better than public health care. Nobody in the US is advocating eliminating private health care, just that some form of public health care is better than none. There are some economic arguments to be made that overall health costs would go down due to preventative care with public health care, but I’m too sleepy to make that argument today.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:47 am
And we most certainly should.
And here, we respectfully disagree.
There would still be the problem that people would lose jobs …
Yes, losing a job puts strains on all financial obligations. But that is a separate conversation.
habitat for humanity
personal level I have helped with my parent’s and my sister’s health expenses
These are noble causes and I applaud you for working to make this world better. And it is THAT local solution that is going to solve the troubles, not some unsustainable program from Washington.
PS. How do you get the italics working on your quotes?
HTML tags.
It goes like this. It will come across choppy, but I can not use the characters in my demonstration, the computer will get confused.
start with the left pointed bracket, above the comma. Then type the letter i. Follow this with the right pointed bracket, above the period. This tells the computer to begin italics.
Then, type whatever you want in italics.
End with this:
left pointed bracket, a slash / and then the i, followed by the right pointed bracket.
I will demonstrate using the { instead of the pointed bracket.
{i} This would appear in italics {/i}
I hope it works, if not, I’ll try again.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:48 am
I hope it works, if not, I’ll try again.
Okay, it worked.
Now substitute the pointed bracket for the { and the }
September 9th, 2008 at 12:51 am
UM CARA, the difference between you and me, is that I feel we should help those who are in need through the local charities and neighbors, not having the federal government. I don’t feel the government has any constitutional right to take my money and give it to whom and whatever they want. That’s for me to decide. The government is not the best to decide. The only reason for the federal government is for defense. And, it is on the way to socialism. The democractic party increases the amount of taxes decade after decade. If you want to give half of your money to the government, you have the right, go ahead. But don’t legislate that I have to.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:52 am
Okay, it worked.
It should also work for b instead of i, causing the test to be bold
September 9th, 2008 at 12:53 am
This should be italics
and this bold
September 9th, 2008 at 12:57 am
LOL, I’ll try again tomorrow
Thanks for the discussion guys, goodnight
One more try of italics
September 9th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Alan,
There are some other issues that should be brought also. The father of the child, Levi, said on his now famous myspace page that he doesn’t want any kids. You should ask if she had any influence in making him change his mind, and if not, are you aware of what caused the sudden drastic change. As far as the library situation goes, I don’t see how this woman was ever an elected official if she doesn’t comprehend the first amendment. Ask her if why her particular taste in books should be considered the norm and followed by all.
Keep Up The Good Work,
Chris
PS: Just downloaded your audiobook off Itunes last week and though it was a bit outdated it still his all the right nerves. A Great 5 hours.
-Chris
September 9th, 2008 at 1:22 am
“There are some economic arguments to be made that overall health costs would go down…”
It’s very simple. When it’s private health care they charge you money to cover their costs, THEN THEY CHARGE YOU MORE SO THEY MAKE A PROFIT.
Medicare is non-profit. It’s administrative costs are a microscopic part of its total budget.
Do you think health insurance corporations give a damn if you die? At least if you have a government program you can bitch to your senator. Who are you going to complain to about a corporation? Do you want to talk to their customer service reps in India? How many lawyers do you have on retainer? Better ask how much longer do you have to live, because corporate lawyers specialize in delaying cases for 5 or 10 years or more.
September 9th, 2008 at 2:43 am
“There are some economic arguments to be made that overall health costs would go down…”
No there aren’t. None. Economics is merely the management of scarcity. There is nothing on Earth that can be made cheaper by taking away any disincentive for its use. In other words, if you give something away for free, the consumers have nothing to inhibit their consumption and they will consume more of it.
That’s why Socialist systems have to ration their benefits.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Real Hannity is a brainless wanker. And so is Fake Hannity. Snap!
September 9th, 2008 at 5:08 am
hey Vince,
Where does your expertize in socialism come from? You’re constantly harping on about it. Have you ever even visited a social democratic country?
Don’t seem to be doing too bad in Sweden, which has had a Social Democratic party in power for nearly seventy of the last seventy two.
Presumably the evils of free university education and health care must be to blame for their continuing prosperity, highly industrialized and growing economy and high life expectancy? What do you reckon?
September 9th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Sweden is a multicultural dictatorship. The native population is rapidly declining. And Muslim population is growing rapidly. The Muslims have waged a war of crime, rape and harassment against the Swedes who do nothing about it. Steadily they are losing their country. Socialism + Multiculturalism = Death.
Veiled girl gang in Stockholm attacks old ladies
A group of five teenage girls have been accused of a wave of vicious attacks against old women in Stockholm…
The girls, aged 17 and 18, have been remanded in custody for attacking the women in Tensta and Rinkeby, suburbs of the capital.
Their victims, mostly in their seventies and eighties, were usually mugged outside their homes…
In one of the muggings, the girls stole a 71-year-old’s handbag and pushed her down a flight of steps. In another case, a 78-year old woman was pushed to the ground and kicked where she lay.
The girls worked in groups and wore veils during the attacks, making it harder for the police to identify them.
While Sweden Slept, by Bruce Bawer
Recently, the city of Stockholm carried out a survey of ninth-grade boys in the predominantly Muslim suburb of Rinkeby. The survey showed that in the last year, 17% of the boys had forced someone to have sex, 31% had hurt someone so badly that the victim required medical care, and 24% had committed burglary or broken into a car. Sensational statistics — but in all of Sweden, they appear to have been published only in a daily newssheet that is distributed free on the subways
Stockholm Suburb: “It’s too Dangerous for Children here, Many are Wearing Bulletproof Vests”
Nalin Pekgul, a well-known Social Democratic advocate of suburbs with a high concentration of immigrants, is leaving her own suburb Tensta because she thinks it has become too insecure. Tensta has become too dangerous for the children, she says. Nalin Pekgul, who is a Muslim herself, has also noted that fundamentalist variants of Islam are growing stronger in Tensta. Her children come home and wonder why their mother doesn’t wear a hijab or why their family don’t go to the mosque. They also have heard that Muslims are better than Christians. “I don’t like it when my son comes home and says that ‘Mom, we Muslims don’t lie, but Christians do, because they don’t have God.’ He hasn’t got that from us . We had not reckoned on this religious fundamentalism,” she says.
Swedish Welfare State Collapses as Immigrants Wage War
The wave of robberies the [increasingly Muslim-dominated]city of Malmö has witnessed during this past year is part of a “war against the Swedes.” This is the explanation given by young robbers from immigrant backgrounds when questioned about why they only rob native Swedes, in interviews with Petra Åkesson for her thesis in sociology…
“When we are in the city and robbing we are waging a war, waging a war against the Swedes.” This argument was repeated several times. “Power for me means that the Swedes shall look at me, lie down on the ground and kiss my feet.” The boys explain, laughingly, that “there is a thrilling sensation in your body when you’re robbing, you feel satisfied and happy, it feels as if you’ve succeeded, it simply feels good.” “It’s so easy to rob Swedes, so easy.” “We rob every single day, as often as we want to, whenever we want to.”
Immigrant Rape Wave in Sweden
The number of rape charges in Sweden has quadrupled in just above twenty years. Rape cases involving children under the age of 15 are six – 6 – times as common today as they were a generation ago. Most other kinds of violent crime have rapidly increased, too. Instability is spreading to most urban and suburban areas.
An Islamic Mufti in Copenhagen sparked a political outcry after publicly declaring that women who refuse to wear headscarves are “asking for rape.” Apparently, he’s not the only one thinking this way. “It is not as wrong raping a Swedish girl as raping an Arab girl,” says Hamid. “The Swedish girl gets a lot of help afterwards, and she had probably f***ed before, anyway. But the Arab girl will get problems with her family. For her, being raped is a source of shame. It is important that she retains her virginity until she marries. It is far too easy to get a Swedish whore…… girl, I mean;” says Hamid, and laughs over his own choice of words. “Many immigrant boys have Swedish girlfriends when they are teenagers. But when they get married, they get a proper woman from their own culture who has never been with a boy. That’s what I am going to do. I don’t have too much respect for Swedish girls. I guess you can say they get f***ed to pieces.”
The New York Times and Sweden: The Dark Side of Paradise
Ethnologist Maria Bäckman, in her study “Whiteness and gender,” has followed a group of Swedish girls in the suburb of Rinkeby outside Stockholm, where native Swedes have been turned into a tiny minority of the inhabitants due to rapid immigration… Bäckman relates that several of the girls she interviewed stated that they had dyed their hair to avoid unwanted attention and sexual harassment. They experienced that being blonde involves old men staring at you, cars honking their horns and boys calling you “whore.”…
The official explanation given by Swedish authorities to the increase [in rape charges] is that much of it is a “technical” increase due to the fact that more victims of rape now report this crime to the police. There is not a hint of evidence for this explanation. On the contrary, intimidation of people reporting any kind of crime to the police has rapidly worsened in Sweden during the same time period. Threats against witnesses in Swedish court cases quadrupled between 2000 and 2003 alone… Street violence of all kinds is soaring on a national level. Private security companies are in great demand in major Swedish cities, as a serious lack of police to combat rising crime has made many citizens tired of being robbed.. Gangs of 14- and 15-year-olds raping and robbing is now common in many Stockholm suburbs… At the same time, the underfunded and undermanned Swedish police officers feel “unmotivated” to fight crime, according to a study made by police researcher Stefan Holgersson, who interviewed 2000 Swedish police officers.
One person who seems to have a decent grasp of what’s happening with Muslim immigration in Sweden and Europe is Christopher Caldwell, who has written several articles about the topic, including one in the New York Times in February 2006 called “ Islam on the Outskirts of the Welfare State.” Visiting the Stockholm immigrant suburb of Rinkeby, Caldwell asked whether something like the French riots of the fall of 2005, with burning cars and rampaging gangs, could happen in Sweden. “Absolutely,” said one lanky boy near the window. “People burn cars here all the time. Not because they’re angry — because they think it’s fun.”
One person who seems to have a decent grasp of what’s happening with Muslim immigration in Sweden and Europe is Christopher Caldwell, who has written several articles about the topic, including one in the New York Times in February 2006 called “Islam on the Outskirts of the Welfare State.” Visting the Stockholm immigrant suburb of Rinkeby, Caldwell asked whether something like the French riots of the fall of 2005, with burning cars and rampaging gangs, could happen in Sweden. “Absolutely,” said one lanky boy near the window. “People burn cars here all the time. Not because they’re angry — because they think it’s fun.”
Sweden: The Country that Sacrifices its Children, and Celebrates
Sweden is a country that has virtually no public debate about mass immigration, which continues at full speed. The Swedish political and media elites congratulate themselves for their Multicultural goodness. If sacrificing your own children is the definition of good, then exactly what constitutes evil?
[…]
A high school teacher in Malmö discovered that about a dozen Arab students were laughing and shouting “Allahu Akbar!” while watching a DVD of infidel hostages being beheaded in Iraq. The headmaster didn’t think the incident was such a big deal. At least 139 schools in Sweden suffered arson attacks during 2002 alone, a number which by 2007 has grown to at least 230. Such as an incident in Malmö, where three schools were put on fire during one night. “Teenage boys” are suspected to behind the arson. Björn Vinberg from the fire department in Kroksbäck in the Malmö area says it’s humiliating and degrading to put out fires again and again in the same immigrant areas, with school kids laughing at them and lighting a new one just afterwards. His colleagues have been to the same place no less than twenty times, all totally unnecessary.
From The Local, January 12, 2007: Rival gangs of 10-year-olds in the eastern town of Söderhamn have threatened to wipe each other out. One of the gangs is made up of indigenous Swedes and the other of immigrants, and police in the town are taking the problem very seriously. The conflict has escalated on the Internet, and police fear that there may be fatalities if the fighting is not stopped.
“Let Them Eat Kebab” – The New Marie Antoinettes
Jens Orback, Democracy Minister in the previous Social Democratic Swedish government, said during a radio debate that: “We must be open and tolerant towards Islam and Muslims because when we become a minority, they will be so towards us.”
In 2006, a man was attacked and nearly killed for the crime of wearing clothes with his own national flag while Sweden was participating in the World Cup. Sweden, of course, has the same Christian cross in its flag as does England, and apparently, some “Multicultural youths” found this to be an intolerable provocation. The 24-year-old man was run down by a car in the city of Malmö. According to the police, he was wearing some clothes with Swedish national symbols on them, and this “provoked some emotions.”
September 9th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Alan,
If Sarah supported the “bridge to nowhere” as strongly as you suggest why did the AK Dem Party give her all the credit for it’s demise on there web page?
September 9th, 2008 at 8:18 am
“Economics is merely the management of scarcity”
Completely off the point.
Paying for the health insurance corporations’ profit margin increases the cost of the service.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:21 am
News flash! This just out from the Farmers Almanac. Expect Global Cooling over the next 40 to 50 years. Global warming and cooling is cyclical. Wow cyclical what a revelation. If you can not buy that then someone please explain to me the last 14 global warming and cooling periods.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Alan,
Regarding question 4. Women do have choices in such matters. Its a very basic choice. So surprisingly simple that I’m shocked that you haven’t thought of it.
If one doesn’t wish to carry a baby to term then one should NOT engage in actives which might cause an unwanted child. So(excluding rape) women do have choices to make.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Vince you crack me up.
I’ve forwarded your response to my Swedish friends who were very surprised to find they lived in a “multicultural dictatorship”. They suggest you go and visit for yourself rather than trawl the Internet looking for for scare stories from unattributed sources.
They also suggest that you might just be a little bit paranoid and wondered how a man who lives in a country populated entirely by immigrants from every corner of the globe lives day to day.
I must admit I’m curious too. In an idea world, what sort of people would be allowed to live in the USA. I’m guessing it’s okay to be called Vince and be very, very Republican, I also guess Socialists are probably banned and I imagine Muslims wouldn’t be very welcome in VinceLand either. But what about say Irish Catholics or Korean Buddhists or Nigerian humanists or British aristocrats?
September 9th, 2008 at 8:34 am
the money for ALL the government programs that obama wants is going to come from the same place ALL the money came from to finance the Iraq war!
September 9th, 2008 at 8:38 am
JPW: Let me see the email
September 9th, 2008 at 9:09 am
How comforting that Palin understands that she takes orders from supernatural beings. We don’t know if she talks to them directly, or gets them via spiritual advisers.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Vince,
I know good and well that you are informed enough to know what I am talking about, you just disagree with it, so your statement that there are no economic arguments to be made is disingenuous.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Vince,
re:
Sweden is not perfect, there are intolerant people there too who blame ever frustration, crime, bad weather, etc… on ‘immigrants’ – but it is actually a pretty nice country. I’ve spent a total of five or six weeks there over the past ten years and have thus far managed to avoid these hordes of murderous, raping immigrants your articles speak of.
September 9th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Wow is anybody watching Obama on O’Reilly. Obama is embracing COMMUNIST CHINA. Come on he is trying to compare our infrastructure to China’s. The Audacity of Ignorance. Who is out of touch. O’Reilly totally dictated him and we want to see him negotiate with terrorist dictators. He stated that you can make stats be what you want them to be. So in turns he basiclly says O’Reilly’s stats are wrong and his are right.
He never argued that his plans are socialistic. Income redistribution! Capital gains tax increase = bad economy. Obama says its fair. Hello we are created equal but life is not fair. We all make decisions on whether to be successful or not. Socialism = keeping people down, reliant on government and people not taking responisble for their own decisions right or wrong. “Does he think you people are stupid”. Barry
This is great O’Reilly negotiated him down from 25% on capital gains tax to 20%.
Obama tries to tell O’Reilly that he can afford 40% tax on his income. How does Barry know what people can afford. Tried to use an example of a waitress. Why cant she go to school to better self. Oh he wants to make sure everyone gets a 1st class education. Not everyone can get into 1st class universities. They do not meet standards. Yet there are billions of dollars in scholarships out there and millions go unclaimed. Just a few out there. http://www.purpleslinky.com/Trivia/Random/Top-10-Weirdest-Scholarships.165901
He is invoking one person’s right on anothers.
September 9th, 2008 at 10:55 am
September 4, 2008…12:56 pm
pssssssst…about that Bridge to Nowhere….Obama and Biden Voted for it
Jump to Comments
Obama and Biden Voted for Bridge to Nowhere
By John Powers, Chicago Daily Observer
Now that Alaska is front and center in the news again, it is a good time to catch up on a favorite story, The Bridge to Nowhere, using the Washington Post US Congress Votes Database.
Though Gov. Palin originally supported the earmark spending on the Ketchikan bridge (“to nowhere), she eventually killed the project, chosing to spend Federal money on other infrasturcture programs.
However, Sen. Biden and Sen. Obama voted for funding the Bridge, even when given a second chance by Sen. Tom Coburn, who proposed shifting earmark funds to Katrina relief.
Sen. McCain did not vote on the Coburn Amendment, though he is on record as opposing the Ketchikan bridge earmark.
Note they voted for it not once but twice. Oh by the way last week Obama is quoted as saying how much he was there to help Katrina victims and releif. Ya right!
September 9th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Williams,
Glad that you want to talk with our enemies, many people on the right are opposed to this, but I agree with you that we need to engage our enemies, not just try to kill them. I applaud your willingness to engage.
People keep calling Obama’s plans socialist on this board, but they fail to explain how McCain’s support for a progressive tax is not socialist by their own definition. Do you consider McCain a socialist as well? If not, how is his support for a progressive tax system not ’socialist’ by your definition, since it does, in effect, redistribute wealth
What’s wrong with being a waitress? There could be many reasons why someone could not go to school to ‘better self’, and going to school does not make one ‘better’ anyway. He was using that example to show why a progressive tax system (which again, McCain supports as well) is fair. A waitress presumably uses the vast majority of her income just to live (rent, food, clothes, etc…) whereas an O’reilly (or Obama, or Um Cara) uses only a small portion of their income for sustenance, with a larger amount left over for discretionary spending. Thus, they can afford to pay more into taxes than someone who needs almost every dime just to live.
September 9th, 2008 at 11:22 am
UM Cara
Nothing wrong with being a waitress/waiter (I did some waiting and busing tables myself at one time, costodial engineer, construction, worked on farms and ranches). Never asked or thought I need part of someone elses pie or a hand out. I can safely say that most people I know also feel that way. I always look to a brighter future. Work and educate myself to better myself/family. I was simply saying and noting that if a waitress/waiter want to move up the economic food chain and get an education it is at his/her disposal. Nothing wrong with not going to College. My father does not even have his GED but in my opinion is a smart person, reads to educate himself and has done well enough to support himself/family and have a little for simple pleasures in life. Again you are putting yourself in with the shoes of Obama (4 million income) O’Reilly who does well for himself. Where as those who do make a six figure income in some parts of the country make enough to just get by. Some of them are small business owners. Again you are assuming that those with six figure incomes do not have extra dept., higher living expenses, etc.
September 9th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Williams,
I am indeed assuming that someone making 100K+ can afford to pay more taxes (as a percentage) than someone making 17K. Both Obama and McCain would agree with that statement, and neither are socialists.
September 9th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Hey Vince,
Are you avoiding the question? You tell me what VinceLand would be like and I’ll post the original email and the translation, unless of course you speak Swedish.
I presume you’re trying to imply that I’m making up my Swedish friends, which might well hold water if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m married to Swedish girl and lived in the Nordic countries on and off for five years.
So rather than question my credentials, how about you answer what sort of people are allowed to live in the wonderful world of Vince and how you deal with all those pesky immigrants in Chicago.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
UM Cara:
I am not against anyone paying their fair share at all. I am for it. What it all comes down to is redistrabution of wealth! OB makes it sound like being rich is evil.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
JPW,
Drinking song a Norweigian buddy taught me, that I use to ‘entertain’ my Norweigian, Finn, and Swedish friends. Generally after several rounds of Korskenkova, entertainment comes cheap…
Ten thousand Swedes ran through the weeds at the battle of Copenhagen.
Ten thousand Swedes ran through the weeds
Chasing one Norwegian.
(always sung with a fake Norwegian accent, of course)
Sweden is a very nice country, but you have to admit, the Finns and the Norwegian’s love to pick on them! They are so mellow, it’s strange to think they irritated so many off at some point in history ; )
September 9th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Williams,
Would you please provide one quote where Obama makes it sound like being rich is evil?
Could you respond whether you consider McCain’s support of a progressive tax system ’socialist’ and if not, why?
September 9th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Williams, Jesus said being rich was evil. Something about getting a camel through the eye of a needle will be easier than a rich man getting to heaven.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
“We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby…”
You know….I can see why they would be, and that’s nice that Bristol’s got supportive parents, willing to help her raise her child (just pile it on with the other kids the nanny cares for, I guess)…but… I’m sick of kids being born as “accidents.”
This defiant, “children having children is GREAT!” notion is dumbing down our nation and driving up the welfare rolls.
I used to think my father was an absolute idiot when he assured me that teen girls got pregnant because they liked the attention it gave them. I’m beginning to wonder if he’s right (or half-right, since, why the hell aren’t we targetting pregnancy-prevention messages to young boys? They’re the ones who make girls pregnant!).
What’s done is done, but I really wish America would stop pretending teen pregnancy is a great contribution to our society. It’s just not.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
It’ll be interesting to see if questions like this will be asked.
September 9th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Let’s not forget that Sweden will be energy independent in the next 10 years.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I’m confused. Is this the Daily Kos or a website hosted by Alan?
September 9th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Um Cara,
After several rounds of Korskenkova I’ll sing anything! Great song and not one that I’ve heard before, but I can imagine the response.
I think they are now so chilled out because they spent such a great part of their history irritating their neighbors. Maybe peace gets addictive after a couple of centuries.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
“…the money for ALL the government programs that obama wants is going to come from the same place ALL the money came from to finance the Iraq war!”
We’re going to make the rich folks pony up some of that too for a change.
“Is this the Daily Kos or a website hosted by Alan?”
Yes, Virginia, there are people in the world who hold opinions that differ from yours, and they don’t all post at Kos.
September 9th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Large Al,
Stop talking over people…it annoying. I want to hear ignorance loud and clear..hehe.
Seriously…it’s shows weakness on your part as if you are afraid someone might make a point.
Thanks,
D
September 10th, 2008 at 12:01 am
The Obama campaign and DNC, curiously, have already launched all out attacks against the choice and Palin herself, indicating that she does not have enough executive or national experience.
Excuse me? She does not have enough executive experience?
A simple analysis of the relative experience levels of Sarah Palin compared to either Democratic candidate puts this to rest. For over the past decade, Sarah Palin has been involved in executive decision making at increasing levels of elected positions of public trust. Obama has no executive experience, Biden has no executive experience. During that time, Palin left off running an actual private business in Alaska, a commercial fishing business and was elected to her city council and then, in quick order to be Mayor of her home town. She did so well there that she was ultimately elected to be Governor of the State of Alaska, managing 17,000 personnel and a 9 billion dollar budget. Obama and Biden have absolutely no comparable experience at all, neither of them.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:48 am