2008 General Election Discussion Thread

[bmags]

I find it increasingly frustrating that people assume that no thought or vetting went into this VP pick. Clearly, there are numerous news articles about "how much" vetting was done and how it was conducted.

 

 

You're right, they say not much. Except for the guy in charge of it all, who said he did a great job. Oh, and my favorite, the aides that said they had an FBI check on her, very official. Of course then the FBI says what are you talking about we don't do that.

[Disco72]

In other words, she was a completely political pick with no thoughts as to whether she could run the country.

 

"Least scandalous scandal" ever...maybe if you didn't pay attention to the BUsh administration. Maybe if you think you should be allowed to use your political power to take care of family differences. Maybe If you would like another presidential administration that again acts like it was just their aides. But I remember the U.S. attorney scandal and the politicization of most every department during the Bush administration, and I don't want it repeated.

 

Your earlier post indicated "no thought" was given to her, now you clarify it with "no thoughts as to wheter she could run the country." My view is that she was a very carefully considered political pick. If people think she is unable to run the country if the necessity arises, then they won't vote for her. Frankly, I'm still debating that myself. I also do not like a number of her political views.

 

As for the scandal comments, I have been paying attention, and I am against the politicization of departments. However, don't kid yourself into thinking it was purely as Bush phenomenon (note: this is NOT a defense of Bush). I would agree with you that I do not want it repeated. All of the facts may not be in on "troopergate," but I have not seen anything to indicate a systematic politicization during her time as Governor. If it turns out that this was a purely personal vendetta against the trooper that cost Monegan his job, it would be pretty disappointing on a number of levels. However, you also cannot ignore that there were legitimate reasons for his dismissal (poor job performance regarding budgets) and that he was offered another position. It's hard for me to blindly assume "vendetta" when the guy is offered another job in the same administration.

[Disco72]

You're right, they say not much. Except for the guy in charge of it all, who said he did a great job. Oh, and my favorite, the aides that said they had an FBI check on her, very official. Of course then the FBI says what are you talking about we don't do that.

 

I have no interest in defending the guy in charge of the vetting who is looking like an idiot right now. My point is that I do not really see the "holy crap!...I can't believe she did that!" attitude in the things that have been "found out" about her. I guess I'm just cynical, but if this is the worst that can be said about her, how bad could the vetting have been?

 

I appear to be in an obvious minority in that these things do not seem like a big deal to me. Unless something more serious arises, I will vote for McCain/Palin or not based on issues, not anything "found out" about her in the last week.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Palin Investigation Stalled By McCain Campaign, State Legislator Says

 

Is the McCain campaign afraid of an 'October surprise' involving vice-presidential pick Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska?

 

The Alaska state senator running an investigation of Gov. Palin says the McCain campaign is using stall tactics to prevent him from releasing his final report by Oct. 31, four days before the November election.

 

"It's likely to be damaging to the Governor," said Senator Hollis French, a Democrat, appointed the project manager for a bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee investigation of claims that Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired.

[lostfan]

I have no interest in defending the guy in charge of the vetting who is looking like an idiot right now. My point is that I do not really see the "holy crap!...I can't believe she did that!" attitude in the things that have been "found out" about her. I guess I'm just cynical, but if this is the worst that can be said about her, how bad could the vetting have been?

 

I appear to be in an obvious minority in that these things do not seem like a big deal to me. Unless something more serious arises, I will vote for McCain/Palin or not based on issues, not anything "found out" about her in the last week.

I don't see that a lot of this stuff is a big deal either, especially the pregnancy thing.

 

Now, I'm withholding judgment on the trooper deal, because if it's true, it's a big deal... but there's not enough facts for me to flip out.

[Disco72]

Now, I'm withholding judgment on the trooper deal, because if it's true, it's a big deal... but there's not enough facts for me to flip out.

 

That's probably a better way to put it.

[HuskyCaucasian]

[southsider2k5]

From the category of "Things that come up when you properly vet a person", it turns out that in the mid 90's, Palin and her husband were members of the Alaskan Independence party, which advocates Alaska bringing up a vote on secession. She was still in contact with their convention earlier this year.

 

Swiftboating?

 

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/john-stephens...ce-party-are-fa

 

While the press scrambles to report on the process by which Governor Palin was offered the second spot on the Republican ticket, New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller has opted instead to make up her own version of events. As the AP reports, “Sarah Palin voluntarily told John McCain’s campaign about her pregnant teenage daughter and her husband’s 2-decade-old DUI arrest during questioning as part of the Republican’s vice presidential search, the lawyer who conducted the background review said.” Yet according to Bumiller, yesterday’s disclosures “called into question” how thoroughly Governor Palin had been vetted. Why the discrepancy? It seems one reporter actually reported the story, while Bumiller made up her own. …

And Bumiller writes that Governor Palin “was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party.” Not true, and unsourced. Governor Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982.

 

A day after ABC News requested a response from Palin as to whether she was ever a member of the AIP, McCain campain spox Brian Rogers told ABC News that Clark’s “allegations are false.”

“Governor Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982,” Rogers says, providing some voter registration documentation showing her to be a Republican. “As you know, if she changed her registration, there would have been some record of it. There isn’t.”

Rogers says the McCain campaign provided ABC News with all the voter registration information that exists. Rogers says that Palin didn’t attend the AIP convention in 1994, “but she visited them when they had their convention in Wasilla in 2000 as a courtesy since she was mayor.”

He would not comment as to why AIP officials are so convinced Palin was a member of their party. When asked if Palin ever identified herself as a member of the AIP, Rogers said, “No, she’s a lifelong Republican.”

[bmags]

The AP is a joke right now run by ron formier

[Soxbadger]

So I searched Levi Johnston, found a strange webpage:

 

http://levijohnston.com/Blog/

 

Now I know that cant be real, but its odd that it has posts about all of the Palin daughter stuff prior to her mother even being selected as VP...

 

Now there may be a way to make the posts appear to be older, but the one about meeting Bristol is from a year ago.

 

 

[mr_genius]

Swiftboating?

 

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/john-stephens...ce-party-are-fa

 

haha the NY Times just making stuff up again. maybe they have a spot for Dan Rather in their newsroom.

[mr_genius]

So I searched Levi Johnston, found a strange webpage:

 

http://levijohnston.com/Blog/

 

Now I know that cant be real, but its odd that it has posts about all of the Palin daughter stuff prior to her mother even being selected as VP...

 

Now there may be a way to make the posts appear to be older, but the one about meeting Bristol is from a year ago.

 

uhhhhhhh

 

you do know that those dates could be merely coded in right? just because it says Dec.17 doesn't mean it was actually posted on Dec17.

Edited September 2, 2008 by mr_genius

[Soxbadger]

I think I clearly state:

 

1) This cant be real

 

2) There may be a way to make posts appear older.

 

Im just reporting to what I find and I was pretty skeptical but still thought it was interesting none the less. A lot of these sites are getting taken down quickly (Levi's my space, his sister Mercedes my space) so its hard to try and get the information before it gets deleted.

[Rex Kickass]

I think I clearly state:

 

1) This cant be real

 

2) There may be a way to make posts appear older.

 

Im just reporting to what I find and I was pretty skeptical but still thought it was interesting none the less. A lot of these sites are getting taken down quickly (Levi's my space, his sister Mercedes my space) so its hard to try and get the information before it gets deleted.

 

It's fake, and you can adjust dates on Word Press.

[Soxbadger]

See thats all I needed to know. I assumed it was fake, but at the same time the my space pages were real so you never really can tell just how ridiculous kids are these days.

 

[southsider2k5]

So I searched Levi Johnston, found a strange webpage:

 

http://levijohnston.com/Blog/

 

Now I know that cant be real, but its odd that it has posts about all of the Palin daughter stuff prior to her mother even being selected as VP...

 

Now there may be a way to make the posts appear to be older, but the one about meeting Bristol is from a year ago.

 

 

http://levijohnston.com/Blog/disclosure/

 

HaHaHa, GOT YOU

You really think it would be that easy to find info on this guy?

 

This is a parody site, and for entertainment purposes only! None of the information on this site has been verified as accurate.

 

Hi, I’m Levi Johnston. I just happen to have the same name as somebody who’s in the news. I live in Phoenix, AZ (the opposite spectrum from Alaska eh?). I’m a web developer/programmer/analyst…pick a title…any title… Need some work done on a website, or having issues with a database? Email me at knocked.up@levi johnston.com with the subject (From Palin), and I’ll see what emails I can get to.

[NorthSideSox72]

With all this Palin dirt stuff...

 

I think the issue with her kid is a non-issue, and should be left alone. Glad Obama took the high road, and I hope others do too, but I have a feeling it won't go away.

 

But I do think that a couple of items that have come up ARE noteworthy. Her membership in AKIP is interesting. But the biggest thing to me, is the now-obvious fact that McCain's campaign did minimal research into Palin ahead of the pick. That is telling of McCain though, more than Palin.

 

The AKIP thing, her 527 ties, and most importantly her scary social-right wing views are enough to influence my opinion of the McCain-Palin ticket. That and the bungling of the VP process tells me that McCain has some pretty poor decision-making skills under pressure, and that ain't good. What was a 10% chance I'd vote McCain has become a 2% chance.

 

[mr_genius]

I think I clearly state:

 

1) This cant be real

 

2) There may be a way to make posts appear older.

 

Im just reporting to what I find and I was pretty skeptical but still thought it was interesting none the less. A lot of these sites are getting taken down quickly (Levi's my space, his sister Mercedes my space) so its hard to try and get the information before it gets deleted.

 

your post was worded in a way that led me to believe you thought that webpag could actually be a legit. why even post it if you know it was false?

 

'there may be a way to make posts appear older'

 

of course there is a way

 

 

[Soxbadger]

SS2k,

 

I assumed it was fake

 

But with how quickly myspace pages were taken down I felt it was safer to just show it and then let the truth sort it out. Instead of trying to verify it and then have the page gone before you can get a screen capture. ;P

 

Mr Genius,

 

I have no knowledge of blogs or coding or any of that stuff. Its why I asked people if it was legitimate or not and stated that I myself, some one who is not an expert, believed it to be fake.

 

What if I was wrong, and it was real and people could have seen the info before it was taken down?

 

Thats why I prefaced it with:

 

Now I know that cant be real

Edited September 2, 2008 by Soxbadger

[Cknolls]

From the category of "Things that come up when you properly vet a person", it turns out that in the mid 90's, Palin and her husband were members of the Alaskan Independence party, which advocates Alaska bringing up a vote on secession. She was still in contact with their convention earlier this year.

 

 

Is this comparable to being a member of a black nationalist church for 20 years?

[whitesoxfan101]

Is this comparable to being a member of a black nationalist church for 20 years?

 

Definitely not, because the AIP stuff is fabricated left wing nonsense.

 

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/john-stephens...ce-party-are-fa

 

A day after ABC News requested a response from Palin as to whether she was ever a member of the AIP, McCain campain spox Brian Rogers told ABC News that Clark’s “allegations are false.”

“Governor Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982,” Rogers says, providing some voter registration documentation showing her to be a Republican. “As you know, if she changed her registration, there would have been some record of it. There isn’t.”

Rogers says the McCain campaign provided ABC News with all the voter registration information that exists. Rogers says that Palin didn’t attend the AIP convention in 1994, “but she visited them when they had their convention in Wasilla in 2000 as a courtesy since she was mayor.”

He would not comment as to why AIP officials are so convinced Palin was a member of their party. When asked if Palin ever identified herself as a member of the AIP, Rogers said, “No, she’s a lifelong Republican.”

[mr_genius]

Definitely not, because the AIP stuff is fabricated left wing nonsense.

 

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/john-stephens...ce-party-are-fa

 

the media will probably stop pushing that angle now, but they will probably continue to attack her kids for a while.

[lostfan]

Is this comparable to being a member of a black nationalist church for 20 years?

I've said this before, but I know people that go to that church, and it's just like any other church, and the general perception of it is ridiculously distorted. People talk about "Black Liberation Theology" because it sounds really confrontational and controversial, but 90% of the people that bring that up I can guarantee have no idea what they're talking about.

[Rex Kickass]

Is this comparable to being a member of a black nationalist church for 20 years?

 

Obama's church was never considered a "black nationalist" church.

[lostfan]

 

http://levijohnston.com/Blog/disclosure/

This reminds me of a Myspace bulletin my friend forwarded where Obama was supposedly talking about how he wouldn't say the Pledge because in some places of the world people view America as oppressive, or something or other. Words lifted directly off a satire site and he just assumed it was true and pushed it on up.