I was really sickened by this expression of sheer lack of respect for the American public and the media. To claim that you can only ask direct questions of Sarah Palin when she is shown “respect and deference” by the media, is beyond narcissism. Frankly, it borders on populist elitism.
As a responsible citizen and moderately informed voter, I demand to hear the positions of each candidate. Though it may have been true in the past, that a Vice President had limited political influence; the current administration has changed that. Even if Governor Palin reverts to settling ties in the Senate, meeting foreign dignitaries, attending funerals, fund raising, and advising the President on issues; I would like to know where her political affiliations fall. If she is merely going to repeat the platform lines and blindly support the policies of Bush/Cheney, I question whether she has the ability to understand and formulate her own policies and stances.
I feel that we have seen less of that lipstick wearing pit bull and a bit more of a perfume wearing parakeet. “Palin wants a platform. Squaaak.”
After more and more questionable practices arise to complicate the “reform” image of Sarah Palin, I began to wonder if the McCain campaign forgot to check their dictionaries. By that I mean that Palin isn’t really a maverick, but a bit more of a renegade.
maverick: an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party
renegade: an individual who rejects lawful or conventional behavior
As was reported in the New York Times, Palin practiced an amzing amount of cronyism once becoming Governor and allegedly abused her executive position to punish those that did not bend to her political will. So in this she may not be too far removed from the current administration, but introducing such activity en masse into an already overspent and questionable government system, doesn’t make you a maverick. It would be fair to say that it doesn’t make you a renegade either, but when a politician runs on a platform or reform and moral veracity; actions such as these show your character as nothing more than a thin veil of campaign rhetoric.
Economically speaking, Palin and the McCain campaign continue to uphold the fully debunked story of the “Bridge to Nowhere.” They also continue to tout her “sweeping” cuts of the budget, including the elimination of wasteful earmarks previously requested by her predecessors. Where it may be true that she eliminated a number of wasteful line items, Alaska remains what some would call a Welfare state. For a population so small (less than 700k people) they receive an unbalanced amount of funding. So much so, that the government routinely supplies over $3500 worth of federal aid per capita, making Alaska number one in government handouts. So once again, perpetuating this type of government sponsored handout system doesn’t make her a maverick of the Republicans, but more of a Renegade Republican (some would even call a Democrat).
So we are back to weighing her “maverick” status when it comes to transparent government. Something that fueled her motives regarding earmarks and to begin the slow rise of the new Populist-right rhetoric. Before she was a VP candidate, Palin was already under investigation for allegations of political bullying and misuse of power. When confronted about this investigation, Palin assured the public that she would cooperate with the non-partisan committee to settle this issue. However, the political machine that is the McCain campaign has declared this state sponsored investigation “tainted” and stated that Palin will not answer their questions. So much for good will and transparent government. Then again I guess you don’t have to worry about transparent statements if you refuse to speak at all. It seems I have heard this dance before. As this fiasco continues, Palin has even gone so far as to point the finger at Barrack Obama for contaminating her pristine political refuge. Scary how this “maverick” continues to go along with the paranoid Right wing conservative stance that the world is out to get us. One would think the conventional behavior in being investigated would be to cooperate and prove your innocence. To obstruct that process by misleading the public and parlor theatrics is not only unethical and par for this administration’s course, but dare I say it being a renegade against law abiding citizen standards.
I could continue, but writing this is making me almost as depressed as realizing how many in the public seem to be ignoring the facts laid out before them. Being a tough talking mom, who goes to church and can memorize a series of carefully crafted scripts doesn’t qualify you for that “new reform candidate”; it makes you the lead in a community theater production of the King and I. Let’s face it, if she was ready to lead would the campaign be so keen on hiding her from the public?
Did you ever have someone sitting next to you in class, that spent all night memorizing the notes you let them copy from the class they skipped all semester, find themselves being asked to apply the facts they just learned?
Yeah it felt like that to me too.
We may soon forget the phrase, “sounds like a broken record;” due to the I-pod era, but Palin’s public image seems to rely on repeating the same facts (whose validity continue to be under scrutiny). True she may have been caught off guard by the “Bush doctrine” question, but there were many moments from which she veered away from the question that was asked and steered directly into Highway Stump Speech, Exit 08.
Let’s hope that Joe Biden sends his notes to their campaign before the debate. That way they can at least give her one or two zingers to make it entertaining.
Will someone please tell her just what do Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do anyhow?…
Ok this is getting old already. I love McCain’s face when she comments about Freddie and Fannie. It looks like she just said that, “There is no ‘I’ in America.”
Politicalamity 