Spiro T. Palin

posted by John Nichols on 09/04/2008 @ 01:28am

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ST. PAUL – Forty years ago, mounting a comeback campaign after losing a presidential race eight years earlier, Richard Nixon secured the Republican nomination and then selected as his running-mate a former local official who had served a scant twenty months as the governor of a small state.

The choice was questioned by pundits and mocked by Democrats. They called the vice presidential nominee: "Spiro Who?"

But when Maryland Governor Spiro T. Agnew hit the campaign trail, he did so as "Nixon's Nixon" – the attack dog the party needed to take the opposition apart while making the Republican presidential nominee look presidential.

It was the same role that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin assumed Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

In her speech accepting the Republican nomination for vice president, Palin did a full Agnew.

Like that other Republican vice-presidential nominee in that other time, the newly-minted Republican nominee defended herself against unsettling revelations with regard to her personal and political missteps by attacking the messengers.

"I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone," she announced with a sneer in her voice. "But here's a little news flash for those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this great country."

The "average hockey mom" from Wasilla was devoted most of her first real speech to the American people to the serious political work of tossing verbal brickbats at the men who lead the Democratic ticket.

Palin barely even mentioned Barack Obama or Joe Biden by name. But everyone knew who she was talking about when she picked up her party's new theme of belittling Obama's experience as a community organizer working with laid-off steelworkers in Chicago.

The former mayor of the small city of Wasilla, Alaska, turned questions about whether her tenure in that position qualifies her to be second in line for the presidency into a populist defense of small-town America that highlighted an embarrassing off-the-cuff comment made by Obama at a San Francisco fund-raising event with regard to "bitter" rural voters that embarrassed the Democratic candidate during his Pennsylvania primary campaign.

"(Since) our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves," said Palin. "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening. We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

Sarcastic, bombastic, at times witty, at times savage, Palin ripped and ridiculed Obama with an eye toward challenging the common sense, logic and patriotism of the Democrat.

I've noticed a pattern with our opponent.

Maybe you have, too.

We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers.

And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.

But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform -- not even in the state senate.

This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.

Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit.

Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay ... he wants to meet them without preconditions.

Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights?

Government is too big ... he wants to grow it.

Congress spends too much ... he promises more.

Taxes are too high ... he wants to raise them.

Never mind the conflicts between reality and Palin's over-the-top mischaracterizations of Obama's record and positions. The governor of Alaska was not about to be constrained by the facts.

The point was not to debate the Democrats.

The point, as in Spiro Agnew's day, was to destroy the opposition. "(Though) both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, ‘fighting for you,' let us face the matter squarely," shouted Palin. "There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you ... in places where winning means survival and defeat means death ... and that man is John McCain."

This is the Sarah Palin America will hear in the fall of 2008.

Those who listen closely will hear echoes of 1968.

The echoes will not be precise.

John McCain is not Richard Nixon.

Barack Obama is certainly not Hubert Humphrey.

There is no George Wallace dividing the Democratic vote.

But there is a Spiro Agnew, and her name is Sarah Palin.

Comments (64)

Well the term asinine comes to mind. Not only is Maryland quite a bit of a distance from Alaska, but forty years is quite a number.

Spiro came, oddly enough, from the same machine politics that Nancy Pelosi (and family) did. That might be a more fitting analogy.

And Palin, as much as this foolish waste of cyper type might be, can't understand that she actually went AFTER corruption in Alaska, and even more importantly in the GOP -- which runs the state of AK.

Spiro Agnew is long and gone. Sarah Palin is here for the future -- yeah, maybe a platitude, but it actually is true.

Too bad for you, so much sputtering, and it is so enjoyable to know that it's causing you such fear. Viva la Palin.

Posted by J. Saxon at 09/04/2008 @ 01:51am
Great blog John

though I do hope that the Obama campaign will quickly respond by exposing the blatant mis-representations of Obama's record.

I thought Palin's speech was no better than a bitchy junior-high-school student body president's - and 13 year-olds rarely have the benefit of a tele-prompter

btw, what the hell is with these right-wing morons commenting all over the nation website?

jomamma is just a cookie-cutter GOP talking-points fool

"more effective than Obamas speech" ?????!!!!!!????? only if you're deaf, blind, and very very dumb

Posted by jlresq at 09/04/2008 @ 02:51am
Beware!!! This is not a movie of Micheal Douglas, wall street or Al Pachino of Scent of a women to applaud palin's speech. This is serious business and this woman with such attitude will bring in nothing but more agony, disaster and body bags to USA. I was deeply saddened.

If she would have said Afghanistan then the concept of her speech would have been appropriate but advertently Irag was mentioned and emphasised upon and said Victory in sight! Like that half wit once said, Mission Accomplished! How does she know? Who told her in the small town of 5000? This is insane! To be exact more Body bags in sight. Doesnt she still know that there is a civil war going on in Iraq and USA soldiers are caught in between not knowing who the enemy is (actually no enemy,they are invaded) , and it was a mistake to be in Iraq in the first place, A MILLION LIVES GONE. Having all resources at their disposal cheney couldnt come out with a single documentary or materialistic evidence against Iraq's bad intentions towards USA. It was Afghanistan where Osama is/was. This silly women says or echoes like the same like the half wit in White House who claimed once that god spoke to him to invade Iraq!

The world is turning dangerous with such loonies, The main objective should be how to put a stop to waste the 10 billion dollars per week. That should have been focussed and spoken of. Palin is Rambo alright but with insanity within !

What was her real intention? It was a psychological way to counter the scribes who are hitting her hard due to her flaws and shortcomings and dicey self centered character and misuse of her power (the sacking of the commisioner who refused to be her patsy to fire the trooper who divorced her sister.

Posted by aleemsyed at 09/04/2008 @ 03:45am
Please be assured good speeches dont make us save a dollar and allow us to give special treats to family during Christmas! Their speeches are like fire crackers only, dont get carried away.

what is needed is to find out who speaks from the heart? To touch your heart? What your gut feeling /instinct tells you who is the nice man for the job? Better than competency its the character that should be taken into account. A nice guy can employ 100 nice people of various specialty to help him reaiise or bring forth his ideas to bring benefits to the people who elected him. Thus dont get swept of your feet with this melodrama of outwitting one another to show who is smart, these flowery speeches from Palin is absolute baloney! Nothing she spoke substantiated anything concrete to benefit us. She just promoted herself to "See, I am smart, eh?", no real substance. Why they are raving about her????? Its insane! Dont you realise your situations going to remain the same or going to deteriorate even more, mark my words!

Lets support the right person, who is genuine but not actors and Palin definately deserves an oscar for her performance only as she badly flawed by not discussing the real issues in a strategic manner. It was something you hear in a Bar. If she would have said that my daughter made a mistake, I expect from our generation to be protective to avoid HIV. I would have liked such concerned statements!

Posted by aleemsyed at 09/04/2008 @ 04:26am
John Nichols,

Spiro T. Palin? Dozens if not hundreds of editorials saying she is not qualified when the opposite is true? Angry at her for attacking those who have attacked her? Dude, are you kidding me? Have you lost your mind? Are you people at The Nation magazine escapees from Bellview or what? How can anyone take you people seriously? I know I don't................

Posted by POSEIDON at 09/04/2008 @ 06:07am
Posted by Zero at 09/04/2008 @ 01:47am

Zero, you are 100 percent correct. Had the Democrats and the media focused on the issues and nothing else, then this election may have been something special. But, alas, as you have pointed out, this election, is meaningless.

Posted by POSEIDON at 09/04/2008 @ 06:10am
more effective than Obamas speech" ?????!!!!!!????? only if you're deaf, blind, and very very dumb

Posted by jlresq at 09/04/2008 @ 02:51am

You hit the nail on the head with the right wing morons posting here. I believe half of them are paid to post here because not one of them comes up with an original thought. Here's the GOP talking points: Pro-war,Pro-gun,Anti-taxation while running wars and wanting to spend billions on the military industrial complex, anti-sex education, anti-children once the children are born, anti-education, pro-business, anti-worker, and pro-hateful God that has an inferiority complex, anti-any other religion besides theirs, or anyone who doesn't believe in any religion.

In short, anyone not thinking exactly the way they think, is un-American, not deserving to have a say in government. They are the party of greed, corruption and cowardice capitalizing the fears of their constituents. Fear of anything different or new.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/04/2008 @ 07:22am
How can anyone take you people seriously? I know I don't................

Posted by POSEIDON at 09/04/2008 @ 06:07am

Good, go away. None of us take you seriously either.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/04/2008 @ 07:26am
I'm from Maryland JOHN NICHOLS, so I have to ask:

Did you stay up all night thinking that up? (Heh Heh)

Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 09/04/2008 @ 07:26am
stop the bush/mccain/cheney/palin military-prison-industrial complex!

Posted by tskinner at 09/04/2008 @ 07:59am
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities," said Sarah Palin.

No, the difference between a community organizer and a small-town mayor is that the latter has actual POWER.

"With great power comes great responsibility," said Spider Man's Uncle Ben. But this phrase long pre-dates Stan Lee's great work. It is, in essence, the age-old moral principle that we call "noblesse oblige."

Responsibility may "come" to a mayor. But she may not actually take it. She may abuse her power to raise regressive sales taxes or to try to ban books from the local library that she doesn't like.

But a community organizer doesn't wait for responsibility to "come." The organizer reaches out and takes it. Even before he or she has any power.

Second difference: The community organizer knows what the people in Scranton say among themselves when the mikes are turned off. That's how an organizer becomes aware of what Barack Obama called "bitterness." The mayor may hear this grumbling, too, but the mayor keeps it quiet, knowing that it may reflect badly on his or her own governance.

And there's a third difference between mayors and community organizers that Palin doesn't mention. A mayor who betrays the voters may last until the next election, maybe even longer if the betrayals come in the form of sweet-sounding lies. A community organizer who betrays the community doesn't last one day longer.

Posted by JakobFabian at 09/04/2008 @ 08:19am
They did focus on the issues. Her lack of experience is a joke. Hardline Republican Peggy Noonan was caught on tape yesterday, confirming just that. Wait until the commercial come out detailing her scandals in detail. This speech will be long forgotten two weeks from now.

Posted by mrsanfran at 09/04/2008 @ 08:32am
The Dem strategy with Palin?

As we would say here...put her on Ignore.

Seriously...let her run out and (as most Veep candidates do) be McCain's attack dog. Don't counter-attack her, except maybe lightly. No more of Reid's IDIOTIC "shrill" comments.

Just....let her talk. And KEEP her talking.

The "small town girl...just a mom...folksy" thing then WILL get replaced by an "Agnew" image and it won't be pretty. Suddenly, she'll become the "right-wing Hillary" (of the mid-90s) with a popularity to match....high among the faithful, not so much among the general populace.

My advice to Obama/Biden....keep Palin talking!

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/04/2008 @ 08:52am
First Impressions of Palin: Sledgehammer Sarah Palin had her coming out party last night. She wasted no time establishing herself as the right-wing's attack dog. I am still fact-checking her statements - so many were inaccurate or misleading that it will take some time. Here I am focusing on my overall impression of her introduction to the world.

The word that comes to mind is "sledgehammer." It is clear that she is being set up to run the domestic agenda and deliver on the right wing issues of education, judges, and abortion. Perhaps she can bully her way into Congress and get some action from the weak-spined members will cow to. But how would she approach international scene?

I have not yet seen a comment on her diplomatic skills, but what I saw last night tells me she has none. She slammed diplomacy. Walk softly and carry a big stick?

Well we have seen her big schtick.

It is the last thing we need to improve our role in leading important changes and partnerships in the world.

Posted by snseattle at 09/04/2008 @ 09:14am
Sorry, but Palin came off and sounds too much like Stifler's mom in American Pie, the actress Jennifer Coolidge.

Need a lot more substance, too much facade.

Posted by hsuBfools at 09/04/2008 @ 09:24am
I loved that speech. It was meat to the Christian fascists--which by Giuliani standards may be an insult to fascists--and it is gonna be Dole in 1996 all over again. Shit, they may not even have to count the vote here in Oregon; it'll be over by 8 PM out here.

Posted by onthehelm at 09/04/2008 @ 09:32am
If the Governor of the largest state in the Union isn't allowed to have an opinion on the war based on public information, what the fuck give you the right to have an opinion based on public information? Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 09/04/2008 @ 08:24am

So basically her opinion of the war is no better than yours or mine.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/04/2008 @ 09:41am
I know the Repubs like Jom will come here and say this was an amazing speech. From someone who spent a lot of time speaking and analyzing speech because of my interest in language this was so-so. Why? She wasn't speaking in her voice. She was speaking in a speech writer voice and you could hear the lack of passion for what she was saying. This wasn't her speech this was her campaigns speech. For those of you wooed by this, it wasn't her you were wooed by it was the Republican campaign you were wooed by. This is why I saw it's hard to sift through the BS for the normal observer because this speech wasn't her voice.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/04/2008 @ 09:47am
Palin, like her state, belies what little substance is actually there in terms of her experience and it's population. And what is there the new con repubs consider substantial: oil, is what we need to move beyond; it's the old way of seeing/thinking/dividing.

Posted by hsuBfools at 09/04/2008 @ 09:49am
For jlresq and others who agree with him/her, Re: the right-wing commentators on The Nation website: have you noticed a similarity between them and the right-wing morons on talk radio, i.e. Limbaugh and Hammity? And the lack of such idiotic bullshit from the other side, in The Nation and on radio?

Posted by POHalloran at 09/04/2008 @ 10:07am
A note about framing:

Too many progressives have accepted the right-wing frame, and continue to fall into the trap of referring to the president as the "commander in chief".

That's fine for right wing cowboys and camo'd wanna-be's, but if you're tired of our incessant militarism, and resent the fact that those who "represent" us would advocate endless war in the service of their agendas, then you would be well served to remember that we need to elect a PRESIDENT; a leader and diplomat who would have the vision and skill to restore our once-great nation without constantly threatening to blow shit up.

Posted by drhammer at 09/04/2008 @ 10:08am
Wolfgang1,

As I have said, Palin is qualified but not suited to be VP for various reasons. Do you care to refute those arguments or do you wish to simply play the role of the village idiot?

Posted by POSEIDON at 09/04/2008 @ 10:38am
I know what it takes to raise a child with Down's syndrome - if the child is to achieve a modicum of independence, you have to give it endless love and attention. Palin, who opposes abortion, has chosen to bring a severely handicapped child into this world. The question is: How much attention will she be able to give her baby? Who is going to care for her baby? Has she even started looking after her child?

What's more: What kind of a mother blithly sends her son off to Iraq? And how come her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant? Is Palin ever at home to look after her children?

Mien

Posted by mien at 09/04/2008 @ 10:39am
The exquisite beauty of the Palin nomination and speech is that I haven't had to hear one thing about the Clintons from the MSM for over three days! This may be the first time since 1992 that such delicious quiet has been available! Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and it is only a matter of hours before they're back in the spotlight.

Posted by sntauri at 09/04/2008 @ 10:42am
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/04/2008 @ 09:41am

Darin theory is....Palin governed a lot of tundra and caribou and USED to have control of the AK National Guard, therefore she's a military expert on the Mid-East and geo-politics.

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/04/2008 @ 10:43am
Obama and the Dems need to ignore this new campaign tactic rolled out by Palin last night and stay focused on the issues that matter to Americans. Palin, by her own admission last night, is an attack dog with lipstick (her expression). Obama and Biden can not allow themselves to be baited into responding to her demeaning attacks. The real issues of this race - war and peace, the economy, environment, etc - are all that matter. On the other hand, they shouldn't shy away from nailing her on her political and religious beliefs and some of her past behaviors, which are extreme and will damage McCain as more is learned about her. Americans are tired of divisive, insult politics. The MSM gave a lot of positive spin to Palin's speech last night but it offered nothing in terms of a vision for the future, simply mythmaking about McCain's credentials and belittling of the opposition. If Palin had been auditioning for a job as a news reader at the local TV station last night, she'd probably won the job. But that's about all that can be said for a speech she'd rehearsed a couple of days written by someone she doesn't even know.

Posted by jrutle at 09/04/2008 @ 10:50am
Posted by jrutle at 09/04/2008 @ 10:50am

Actually....she WAS a news reader on a local TV station!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33QWTLC1g_I

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/04/2008 @ 11:03am
I believe I have stated that these speeches are all written by someone else designed for the audience at hand... I assume you feel the same about Obamas speech? The hard truth is the Repubs , unless McCain blows it tonight, will come out of their convention united, something that did not happen and still hasn't in Denver...or since. Posted by JOMAMMA at 09/04/2008 @ 10:06am

Obama's speechs are written by him. Would you like to read some of the articles where they talk about his speech writing? I know you are unwilling to believe that but they are.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/04/2008 @ 11:12am
My advice to Obama/Biden....keep Palin talking!

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/04/2008 @ 08:52am | ignore this person | warn this person

My sentiments exactly. The hockey mom's snide remarks and folksy charm were cute for about 5 minutes. After 5, you wondered if she had anything to say that wasn't gleaned from media storylines over the campaign season to date. This is a small town politician to be sure....not vice or presidential material. She reminded me of first term city councilwoman.....smitten with their first taste of power and in love with its use.

Lets not buy into the small town girl marketing. These folks are not naive, and have been raking in tourist bucks and federal money for years.

Keep her talking. She will soon dig her own grave.

Posted by OneVote at 09/04/2008 @ 11:13am
something that did not happen and still hasn't in Denver

Posted by JOMAMMA at 09/04/2008 @ 10:06am

Also this is untrue. We did. The amount of Hilalry supporters who switched over to Obama was a large percentage. It went from something like 70-74% to something like 80-85% and is still on the rise. I know you look at everything through partisan glasses but I wish you could take them off for two seconds to view the real world.

I will say she sold me in believing that she IS reformer. In a lot of ways that was the biggest problem with her speech. Her speech was not the speech of fresh blood in washington. Her speech was the speech of a Bush league speech writer. Her speech was business as usual. It was a very very typical speech. I could have recited it for you the second I heard her start speaking. The portions that sold me about her reformer nature were the portions about Alaska. The things she had done in Alaska. The things she had done in her family.

I think in a lot of ways she isn't ready for the national stage. I think she never will be. This isn't an indictment of her this is a compliment. I think that she just wants to be in Alaska doing the work she WAS doing. I don't think she wants to be the vice-President of the President. I think she liked what she was doing before and she has no passion for what she is doing now but she feels she can't say no. That is what I got out of her speech. I like her but she is not ready ,and I think doesn't want, to play on the national stage.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/04/2008 @ 11:17am
Also another point I want to make is that she never once actually addressed the concerns of so many Americans. I think like the concerns about Obama, the concerns about her are not just media fabricated, I think they are real concerns. She never addressed them. She only attacked the concerned. Which means in attacking the concerned she attacked much of the US. I don't think this is going to help. I think it united the Republican party BECAUSE it was a very business as usual speech but the Republican party was going to vote McCain no matter what, I think this might turn a lot of normal Americans against her because she didn't ever bother to actually answer their fears about her. I think she would have been better off going up there and speaking for herself and answering the questions about her than delivering a VERY typical Republican speech, not building up her platform, not addressing fears about her, not in anyway building herself or what she wanted to do up, but instead just attacking the other person. I don't think this is going to play well because I think this is exactly the same play Hillary made. I think Hillary did it better and we all see where she ended up. Hillary had everything working for her when she employed this tactic. McCain and Palin have everything working against them.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/04/2008 @ 11:22am
"Pit Bull with lip stick." Pit Bulls have a nasty reputation of attacking innocent people, including their owners, without provocation.

Posted by lachatte at 09/04/2008 @ 11:30am
still want to see him speak on his feet... Posted by JOMAMMA at 09/04/2008 @ 11:29am

It's coming in the debates. Which I want to see too. I also want to see McCain, Palin and Biden do it.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/04/2008 @ 11:31am
Here's a POW's who was a prisoner longer than McIdiot. His take on McCain is a lot different than the other crap we've heard from the various rethug drum beaters. Check the link below out.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080915/pow_video

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/04/2008 @ 11:40am
The thing that John Nichols reinforces is that Palin is, as promised, a brilliant hard-hitting politician. She exposed Obama by using hyperbole but that is the skill only first class debaters like Palin master. Every point she took from Obama was based essentially on things he had said, perhaps sometimes when his guard was down but all of her attacks were fair game in that they exposed some weaknesses in his political armour.

Those of us who have seen politicians both on the left and the right make promises they never intended to keep or were unable to deliver know that this sort of real debate, that prods an opponent's weaknesses will in the end prove that one to be a fraud or galvanise that person into action to explain the party policies more effectively and more fully.

Obama is not a debater but a rhetorician whose main asset is his ability to inspire those whom Palin and obviously others, believe are in the main a credulous manipulated audience who desperately want to believe his every word. He has suckered his followers into that passive acceptance by getting them to believe that he in his person is "the change" they can believe in.

That expression of the cult of personality militates against a lively, vigorous politics and is the antithesis of what fosters a bold, questioning, rigorous democracy.

Thus Palin in sweeping all the humbug aside gives Americans a better chance to evaluate what Obama the politician is really saying.

Having used that blowtorch Palin must expect to have it turned on herself and McCain also. But that surely is how a sound democracy works best.

Posted by lrjones4 at 09/04/2008 @ 11:40am
Posted by lrjones4 at 09/04/2008 @ 11:40am

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black LR? The rethug talking points, whether true or not is the only thing McIdiot and Palin keep puking back up.

I would love to have access to the hallucinogens you evidently have access to and are using.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/04/2008 @ 11:49am
I am trying very hard to remain unconcerned with the media circus that is surrounding the Sarah Palin pick for vice president. As a former Navy pilot, John McCain is familiar with missle counter-measures. In this campaign Sarah Palin is the Republican counter-measure to the Obamma Campaign's heat seeking missile - a distraction released to the media designed to take the American public's attention away from the Republican party's lack of a platform or program to address our nation's problems (of which they will not even acknowledge).

I will not be distracted - in the last seven years of Republican control, I have seen my solidly middle-class existance eroded by the policies of a Republican kleptocracy under the guise of false patriotism. The differences between Obamma and McCain could not be more profound - how else do you explain his choice for running mate and the out-pouring of sympathy from the Republican faithful for this pick? Make no mistake - the fortune 500 companies that are bank rolling the McCain campaign are afraid that an Obamma victory in November will end their patron-client relationship in Washington.

Do not be seduced and keep your eye on the prize.

Posted by big_foot at 09/04/2008 @ 11:53am
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/04/2008 @ 08:52am

I agree with that. Keep the focus on the real problem: the top of the Republicant ticket.

Posted by nathanhale at 09/04/2008 @ 12:05pm
Exactly! She's a total MILF!

Posted by Darn_the_Troll at 09/04/2008 @ 12:00pm |

Why don't you show your wife that post, and tell her what those letters stand for, Mr. Family Values.

Posted by Benchrest at 09/04/2008 @ 12:13pm
"...my wife is 50 and doesn't consider a MILF describtion to be an insult."

Posted by JOMAMMA at 09/04/2008 @ 12:42pm

Really?

Type out what those letters stand for and then we'll discuss whether or not your wife would find them insulting.

Posted by Benchrest at 09/04/2008 @ 12:47pm
Posted by JOMAMMA at 09/04/2008 @ 12:57pm

Most wives would have a problem with the 'I', not the who.

Posted by Benchrest at 09/04/2008 @ 1:05pm
Haha! Nichols is dragging out Spiro Agnew?! Sorry, but that is funny desperation. Most of the dixie chicks leftists on this blog don't even know who Agnew was! Oh, wait, he was BAD, right?...

Surely that's not the best you can do?! Is it?

I mean, John, what are you going to fall back on to explain to your "base" how Obama and Biden didn't really completely lose the upcoming debates?

Posted by freiheit1 at 09/04/2008 @ 1:24pm
"I am grtaeful McCains running mate doesn't look like a bull dyke"

Posted by JOMAMMA at 09/04/2008

Learn to spell...nuff' said

Posted by big_foot at 09/04/2008 @ 2:06pm
Thanks Darin and MAASCH....

you've now taken "That's sexist!" off the table by discussing Sarah Palin's "f**kability"!

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/04/2008 @ 2:15pm
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/04/2008 @ 1:24pm

Until he was busted for extortion, tax fraud, and bribery....

he was quite popular with the Hard Right...

though most knew Nixon was betting he would flounder in 1976 and lose to Ted Kennedy.

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/04/2008 @ 2:35pm
Learn to spell...nuff' said Posted by big_foot at 09/04/2008 @ 2:06pm |

Trolls....

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/04/2008 @ 2:44pm
I thought that her delivery was pretty good, which speaks well of her experience with being a news reader dealing with teleprompters, but that the material was ...pedestrian, at best. All in all, a mediocre effort, merely buoyed by the red meat eaters whooping it up at the convention. i do not fear her much. She will keep the base tight with McCain, but lose him the crucial independent vote.

Posted by The Goods at 09/04/2008 @ 5:31pm
I thought that her delivery was pretty good, which speaks well of her experience with being a news reader dealing with teleprompters, but that the material was ...pedestrian, at best. All in all, a mediocre effort, merely buoyed by the red meat eaters whooping it up at the convention. i do not fear her much. She will keep the base tight with McCain, but lose him the crucial independent vote.

Posted by The Goods at 09/04/2008 @ 5:31pm
After spending 3 days secluded with speech writers and coaches, why would anyone be surprised that she spoke well? As far as what the content was..same old stuff from the neocons. Let's see how she does in front of the media on her own with no script, or rehearsal. Pretty sure she will open mouth and insert both feet. Only a matter of time.

Posted by fiona33 at 09/04/2008 @ 5:40pm
remember:

Pat Buchanan WROTE those Spiro speeches. Buchanan and Nixon came up with the idea to attack the media. I think it would be GREAT if one of the 3 major networks found an archive clip of Spiro and then played Sarah....

I would believe Buchanan suggested and help write last nights attack... I would hope someone would ask him:-)

Posted by albuquerque at 09/04/2008 @ 6:10pm
Sarah Palin is Spiro Agnew in a dress? Hmm. I'll believe it when someone rifles through her desk in the governor's office and finds white No. 10 business envelopes stuffed with cash.

Ah, the good old days, when graft was graft, men were men, and the horses were nervous. Now it's all online and polar bears.

Posted by ceejayay at 09/04/2008 @ 8:02pm
I would love to have access to the hallucinogens you evidently have access to and are using.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/04/2008 @ 11:49am

Hi Wolfie. You may not have noticed but I got the impression from your grammar that you are also into them . Now I'm a generous bloke but as you seem to be doing OK on what you're using I'll give a pass on that one.

Look Wolfie you Americans are pretty new to this democracy game so I can see how you are easily confused. Some of us have had closer contact with the "mother of parliaments" country back to Magna Carta circa 1215 AD and all that (whence of course you new kids on the democracy block got most of your ideas).

So maybe what you need to do is think about how on earth the circuses you call party conventions advance the cause of democracy.

Getting back to my now fav American politician, I notice Aussie commentators, on the left and on the right, are over the moon about Sarah. It is possible that we are a nation of male pervs (our female journos I can only assume are jealous) but their rationale is that she virtually KO'd poor flat footed, glass jawed Obama on the strength of her political skills. If that is so I'd hate to be in Joe Biden's shoes.

Posted by lrjones4 at 09/04/2008 @ 9:20pm
Just a question or two....has anyone seen the movie "Recount"? Does the name Katherine Harris ring a bell? This lady has been practicing for this moment her whole life. Soon, we will hear, and if we don't, we should make it up, which saint she should be compared with. I am wondering why there isn't a PDF file with all of her ideas on policy ready for all of us to download. I mean, she is down with the internet isn't she? Obama doesn't have to tear her up, we'll take care of that business right here. It's good to be a Democrat! Peace and Love To All of You! Grammar and spelling be damned, there are some great thinkers on here.

Posted by AuntBec at 09/04/2008 @ 10:27pm
These people don't write their own speeches. We'll all lose if Obama doesn't attack each lie, reveal the hypocrisy in each fabrication.

Wow, a $49000 child tax deduction for McCain and Palin. Government hasn't noticed.....who has been running things for eight years. New jobs that won't go away.... household help for Republicans. Public education is not a right. S++t eating grin. We're going to stop buying Middle East oil, and quit sending money to countries that don't like us. Sieg Heil. Sieg Heil. Sieg Heil. Natural gas... lot's of it here. Looks like McCain's promising everything. How do Americans lead? First we put the rope around your neck. Al Quaeda doesn't have to attack us again, we're self-mutilating. We'll be sending "advisors" to Georgia. International lawlessness. He's prepared for threats, he's been a prisoner of war for 40 years. His tie won't show mustard stains. Let's protect our security. We have to catch up to history. Onward into the past.

Posted by georgepweb at 09/04/2008 @ 10:54pm
"So maybe what you need to do is think about how on earth the circuses you call party conventions advance the cause of democracy."

And maybe you need to think about how democratic a parliamentary system can be when Gordon Brown can replace Tony Blair without a single member of the electorate having voted.

Posted by brunowe at 09/04/2008 @ 11:44pm
Posted by brunowe at 09/04/2008 @ 11:44pm

Ha Ha B, Gotcha. Looks like I've scored a bulls eye. Or is that a Palin?

I suggested it is the circus like nature and contrived theatrics of your conventions that are inimical to the democratic process. And I think Palin's demolition of the painstakingly crafted Obama persona is an illustration of how democracy should function.

The point I was making is that her sort of approach can only be good for the democratic process in that it forces, in this case, Obama to respond to those criticisms. The more one knows about a candidate and his or her policies the more informed one's voting will be.

This is the process the GOP should also be subjected to in terms of the candidate's posture and policies.

On your side of politics you wonder why Bush got elected twice. I think the Convention hoopla and the emotional rather than intellectual responses, to the candidate, at such "fun" events should bear some of the blame. In other words you do not take your democratic responsibilities seriously enough.

If you had compulsory voting you may not have to waste so much time and money on these fun and games fests in order to get the vote out.

Posted by lrjones4 at 09/05/2008 @ 12:27am
JOMAMMA, I counted around a dozen posts from you yesterday, and that suggests to me that you have nothing better to do than lie quietly in the tall grass and ambush those who don't agree with your views. And I think you missed my point: YOU are who I was talking about in my (only) post on Thursday -- an ignorant right-wing moron with unformed and unINformed opinions who will shoot off his/her mouth at every opportunity in or on whatever medium will accept your bullshit. Thank whatever powers there be that folks like The Nation and the ACLU are dedicated to preserving the rights of everyone to voice their opinion (or what passes for one) -- including you. And thanks for promoting me a few grades: I'm ten years old and have just entered fifth grade, where I am happy to say I have paid attention to grammar and spelling, which is more than I can say for you, you ignoramus.

Posted by POHalloran at 09/05/2008 @ 12:32am
Brilliant, thanks, I used to live in Maryland and have been thinking a lot about Agnew in the last few days.

the air's a bit thick in here today and some people are getting testy.

I for one am glad that the Nation doesn't censor the right-wing loons who post here. That's what America's all about. Free speech rocks.

But try going over to Free Republic or a similar site and posting something remotely left-wing--it will be immediately deleted. I think that about sums up who's for freedom and who's for something else...

Posted by takemyveepplease at 09/05/2008 @ 02:33am
Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 09/05/2008 @ 08:35am

It was a little unkind of you to mention this to B, but I refrained from picking up on his ignorance of how the Westminster Parliamentary system works. I guess he is still hiding under the bed with a very red face right now.

In the above system the electors don't vote for the prime minister as such. He is always chosen on a vote within the parliamentary party that holds government at the time. So consistent with that convention Brown was chosen by his colleagues to replace Blair. I repeat the electors vote for members of parliament but the party with the most seats chooses its leader or PM.

You can come up for air now B. No need to get a rush of blood to the head just because a deficiency in your democratic process was pointed out to you. No country, except perhaps mine, has a perfect system of government.

Posted by lrjones4 at 09/05/2008 @ 09:17am
McCain talks about change, but then turns around and picks a classic GOP culture warrior as his running mate. So what exactly does the pro-life, abstinence-only (oops!), gay marriage hating, anti-science biblical creationist, Palin bring to the GOP ticket? It's not as if her 7 years as a public servant in Wasilla and 3 years as a public servant in Juneau was spent discussing issues of national security, and international diplomacy and monetary policy.

Posted by Dash_Sliprock at 09/05/2008 @ 10:18am
The Agnew comparison has occurred to me, also. We do not know enough about Palin as yet. Is she a Mr. Agnew or a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? Let's find out before November. Dig, dig, dig, liberal bias media!

Posted by njfrsh at 09/05/2008 @ 12:24pm
LR

"And I think Palin's demolition of the painstakingly crafted Obama persona is an illustration of how democracy should function."

If they had actually been substantive criticism, yes. Limbaugh-like talking points don't really do it.

"but I refrained from picking up on his ignorance of how the Westminster Parliamentary system works. I guess he is still hiding under the bed with a very red face right now. " " He is always chosen on a vote within the parliamentary party that holds government at the time. "

Not at all. The idea that the party standard bearer doesn't figure in the minds of the leadership is absurd. When a general election is held, the voters know full well who the PM will be depending on the which party wins.

Do you seriously want to argue that the fact that Kevin Rudd was the Labor standard bearer in the last go-round (as opposed to his predecessors) made no difference?

DARIN "Hey buddy, how was it possible for Senator Tom Daschle to replace Senator Trent Lott as Senate Majority Leader without a single member of the electorate having voted?

(Answer: Jim Jeffords betrayed his constituants.)

Posted by Darin_the_Troll at 09/05/2008 @ 08:35am | ignore this person | warn this person"

Hey buddy, the Senate Majority Leader isn't even close to being the head of government, the UK Prime Minister is. Incidentally, Jeffords didn't betray his constituents. The neo-con wing moved far away from the moderate Republicans who elected him. He could hardly have continued to move in lock-step with the Bush agenda and been true to his constituents.

Posted by brunowe at 09/05/2008 @ 12:29pm
John McCain called upon the American people to help solve our problems through serving our county. If you choose to take him up on it, remember, do NOT become a COMMUNITY ORGANIZER. They only make fun of people like that.

Posted by Odilon at 09/05/2008 @ 2:48pm
"Do you seriously want to argue that the fact that Kevin Rudd was the Labor standard bearer in the last go-round (as opposed to his predecessors) made no difference? "

No not at all B but that was not the point you raised.

Yours is of course a different system where the president stands apart from his party and has a different range of powers and prerogatives. Impeachment is, as I understand it, the only way to remove your president, who can otherwise serve a fixed term. (In the Westminster system the government of the day can call an election well before the normal 3,4 or 5 year period. Rudd is having trouble getting legislation through the Senate and will now try the second time to get it passed. Rejection twice is a trigger for a double dissolution, in which the House of Reps and the Senate all get the boot and the PM calls a general election).

(As an aside, is not impeachment a process that by passes the general electorate in favour of the elected reps? That, because it includes both or all parties, is only a step removed from what occurs in the Westminster System v a wider democratic process).

The PM or party leader unlike a US president (who stands above his party peers) is the first among equals and thus can be removed by a majority of them at any time.

BTW, despite having a poke at your conventions, I really think it is great entertainment. We Aussies would feel a bit self conscious making fools of our selves with all those funny hats and whistles and flag waving but I loved watching the crowds as much as the speech makers. It reinforced for me that the projection of personality whether of Obama, McCain or Palin is paramount and is probably why "boring" policy detail takes a back seat. ie will you trust and vote for our candidate despite his policies.

Posted by lrjones4 at 09/05/2008 @ 10:32pm