All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
October 4, 2008 Op-Ed Columnist Palin"s Alternate Universe By BOB HERBERT
Sarah Palin is the perfect exclamation point to the Bush years.
We"ve lived through nearly two terms of an administration that believed it could create its own reality:
"Deficits don"t matter." "Brownie, you"re doing a heckuva job." "Those weapons of mass destruction must be somewhere."
Now comes Ms. Palin, a smiling, bubbly vice-presidential candidate who travels in an alternate language universe. For Ms. Palin, such things as context, syntax and the proximity of answers to questions have no meaning.
In her closing remarks at the vice-presidential debate Thursday night, Ms. Palin referred earnestly, if loosely, to a quote from Ronald Reagan. He had warned that if Americans weren"t vigilant in protecting their freedom, they would find themselves spending their "sunset years telling our children and our children"s children what it was like in America when men were free."
What Ms. Palin didn"t say was that the menace to freedom that Reagan was talking about was Medicare. As the historian Robert Dallek has pointed out, Reagan "saw Medicare as the advance wave of socialism, which would "invade every area of freedom in this country." "
Does Ms. Palin agree with that Looney Tunes notion? Or was this just another case of the aw-shucks, darn-right, I"m-just-a-hockey-mom governor of Alaska mouthing something completely devoid of meaning?
Here"s Ms. Palin during the debate: "Say it ain"t so, Joe! There you go pointing backwards again ... Now, doggone it, let"s look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education, and I"m glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and God bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right?"
If Governor Palin didn"t like a question, or didn"t know the answer, she responded as though some other question had been asked. She made no bones about this, saying early in the debate: "I may not answer the questions the way that either the moderator or you want to hear."
The problem with Ms. Palin"s candidacy is that John McCain might actually win this election, and then if something terrible happened, the country could be left with little more than an exclamation point as president.
After Ms. Palin had woven one of her particularly impenetrable linguistic webs, Joe Biden turned to the debate"s moderator, Gwen Ifill, and said: "Gwen, I don"t know where to start."
Of course he didn"t know where to start because Ms. Palin"s words don"t mean anything. She"s all punctuation.
This is such a serious moment in American history that it"s hard to believe that someone with Ms. Palin"s limited skills could possibly be playing a leadership role. On the day before the debate, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, made an urgent appeal for more troops, saying the additional "boots on the ground," as well as more helicopters and other vital equipment, were "needed as quickly as possible."
The morning after the debate, the Labor Department announced that the employment situation in the U.S. had deteriorated even more than experts had expected. The nation lost nearly 160,000 jobs in September, more than double the monthly losses in July and August.
Conditions are probably worse than even those numbers indicate because the government"s statistics do not yet reflect the response of employers to the credit crisis that has taken such a hold in the last few weeks.
Where is the evidence that Governor Palin even understands these complex and enormously challenging problems? During the debate she twice referred to General McKiernan as "McClellan." Neither Ms. Ifill nor Senator Biden corrected her.
But after Senator Biden suggested that John McCain"s answer to the nation"s energy problems was to "drill, drill, drill," Ms. Palin promptly pointed out, as if scoring a point, that "the chant is "Drill, baby, drill!" "
How"s that for perspective? The credit markets are frozen. Our top general in Afghanistan is dialing 911. Americans are losing jobs by the scores of thousands. And Sarah Palin is making sure we know that the chant is "drill, baby, drill!" not "drill, drill, drill."
John McCain has spent most of his adult life speaking of his love for his country. Maybe he sees something in Sarah Palin that most Americans do not. Maybe he is aware of qualities that lead him to believe she"d be as steady as Franklin Roosevelt in guiding the U.S. through a prolonged economic downturn. Maybe she"d be as wise and prudent in a national emergency as John Kennedy was during the Cuban missile crisis.
Maybe Senator McCain has reason to believe that it would not be the most colossal of errors to put Ms. Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency.
He"s got just four weeks to share that insight with the rest of us.
RE: All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
WOW! Well, that just goes to show how scared you tree-hugging libs are that another Republican is going to get in the White House...
McCain/Palin 2008!!
__________________
I love Christmas lights. They remind me of the people who voted for Obama. They all hang together; half of them don't work, and the ones that do, aren't that bright.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do
not understand, no explanation is possible.
A golf course is a willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range.
RE: All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
Care to offer any reasons behind your mindless words there? Or are we just supposed to except them as completely true? Of course, going on Palin's performance, that's what you guys expect huh?
But, it'd still be great if you could offer something you disagree with it. Sounds to me like you didn't read much of the article.
RE: All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
I usually don't read anything you cut and paste, but I did read this one and I'm pretty much right... I also watched the debate and know what she said. I don't need people like you twisting her words.
Go ahead, vote for Obamalamadingdong. But I actually want to be succesful in my career and Obama's tax increases won't help me get there.
__________________
I love Christmas lights. They remind me of the people who voted for Obama. They all hang together; half of them don't work, and the ones that do, aren't that bright.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do
not understand, no explanation is possible.
A golf course is a willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range.
RE: All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
Quote:
ORIGINAL: jeepkid
I usually don't read anything you cut and paste, but I did read this one and I'm pretty much right... I also watched the debate and know what she said. I don't need people like you twisting her words.
Go ahead, vote for Obamalamadingdong. But I actually want to be succesful in my career and Obama's tax increases won't help me get there.
I, I, I, Me, Me, Me...As long as I'm good, who cares about the country's state right? That's what got us into this in the first place. By the way jeepkid, if you don't ready posted articles on the elections that are put right in your lap, then you're not informing yourself as well as you possibly you can, meaning your somewhat uninformed, are you not planning on voting this year
Also, you're pretty much right on WHAT EXACTLY, more Palin-esque rhetoric. Sure, I'm right, yup I know I am and if, well, yeah it'll work and Obama is wrong, but I think that, yea, go McCain/Palin, we'll bring the right change, gosh darn shucks, what was the question again?
RE: All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
There is plenty of substance there. A public debate really gives one almost no idea what the person really has going for them. She has more experience than osama no matter how you look at it. If she is not qualified then osama sure as hell is not either. The guy has done nothing on his own and if he gets in, I hope he keeps doing nothing because I don't need more taxes and I don't need him appointing liberal judges to over turn the second ammendment case that just went our way. That is, for those who love guns and hunting. Some here evidently don't care if we keep those rights or not. There is no way that osama will appoint pro gun people to the court and heaven help us if biden would have to take over, he engineered the whole assault weapons bill and was it's top supporter. Disgusting.[:@] No body that votes for that ticket will ever convince me that they are pro-gun, there just is no way.
Ask the 80 percent of the people in Alaska that strongly approve of her leadership, they are the ones that know, not some two bit jerk reporter from ten buck two. You don't get a 80 percent rating without being good. Compare that to the rating of our House and Senate who have about half the rating that Bush has.
RE: All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
Quote:
ORIGINAL: wahoohunter
Quote:
ORIGINAL: jeepkid
I usually don't read anything you cut and paste, but I did read this one and I'm pretty much right... I also watched the debate and know what she said. I don't need people like you twisting her words.
Go ahead, vote for Obamalamadingdong. But I actually want to be succesful in my career and Obama's tax increases won't help me get there.
I, I, I, Me, Me, Me...As long as I'm good, who cares about the country's state right? That's what got us into this in the first place. By the way jeepkid, if you don't ready posted articles on the elections that are put right in your lap, then you're not informing yourself as well as you possibly you can, meaning your somewhat uninformed, are you not planning on voting this year
Also, you're pretty much right on WHAT EXACTLY, more Palin-esque rhetoric. Sure, I'm right, yup I know I am and if, well, yeah it'll work and Obama is wrong, but I think that, yea, go McCain/Palin, we'll bring the right change, gosh darn shucks, what was the question again?
If people would have taking some personal responsibility (like me) and quit relying on the Govt to do everything for them (like you) then we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.
I knew enough about Obama months ago to know that there is NO WAY I would ever vote for that clown!
__________________
I love Christmas lights. They remind me of the people who voted for Obama. They all hang together; half of them don't work, and the ones that do, aren't that bright.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do
not understand, no explanation is possible.
A golf course is a willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range.
RE: All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
If Obama gets in, you'll have to change your name to usedtobehunter.
Funny, though, she has accomplished more than Obama, who is so pathetic he has to reference his RUNNING for president as EXPERIENCE! Now that is a laugh. "Economic Justice" simply means redistribution of wealth. How about JUSTICE meaning whoever earns it gets to keep as much of it as possible?
RE: All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
That ain't gonna happen. Thats the only thing we will have left to take to the bank.Regardless of who get in, we are probably in for some tougher economic times ahead and there is gods plenty of blame to go around for the shape we ere in. Much of it is our own fault for the way we have thrown money to the wind form decades. Also for not demanding that our paid officials do the job we pay them to do instead of stealing us blind. Many people are to blame, not the least would be Frank. Also Reagan, Bush one, Clinton and Bush two. They all let the regulation fall by way and took their eye off the ball.
RE: All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
Yea, but B.O. will bring us CHANGE WE CAN COUNT ON! He's even got a few of our esteemed colleagues, here on this forum, to believe his nonsense. Pitty. Don't drink the Kool-Aid boyz!!!
McCain / Palin '08
__________________
If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.
All Style, No Substance: But Gosh Darn She Chants!
