Friday, September 12, 2008

12 Sep 2008 01:58 pm

Exact Words?

Schwenkler is in a tizzy because I used Gibson's "task that is from God" remark. Here's the LA Times:

Gibson went on to take a second part of her comments out of context. Palin had asked the group to pray “that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.”

But Gibson dropped her reference to praying — and instead quoted Palin as saying the war was God’s plan. He asked if she believed the country was sending her son on a task from God.

She is a long-time member of the Assemblies Of God. That's all you need to know.

12 Sep 2008 01:45 pm

Quote For The Day II

"I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security, I've been involved in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut, I understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism. I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time," - Senator John McCain, October, 2007.

12 Sep 2008 01:31 pm

"The View" Beats The "Serious" Press

This is how you conduct an interview. This interview just destroyed McCain's candidacy.

12 Sep 2008 01:27 pm

McCain: Something Is Wrong

No serious, alert candidate could be caught in an obvious untruth like this:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Friday running mate Sarah Palin has never asked for money for lawmakers' pet projects as Alaska governor when in fact she has sought nearly $200 million in earmarks this year.

There are two possibilities. 1. He's lying, regardless of the consequences. 2. He really hasn't been briefed or cannot retain the briefing or is simply in denial about the facts. Are his staff telling him? Are they afraid because they didn't vet the candidate and are now allowing him to say things about her in public that are debunkable by one Google search? Even the Fournier-controlled AP cannot deny it:

"When pressed about Palin's record of requesting and accepting such money for Alaska, McCain ignored the record and said: "Not as governor she didn't."

If I had to guess, I have enough residual shreds of fondness for the old McCain to believe 2. You can draw whatever conclusions you may.

12 Sep 2008 01:21 pm

Palin's Lies, Ctd

Here she is last year:

"I'm not a doom and gloom environmentalist like Al Gore blaming the changes in our climate on human activity."

Here she is this morning:

"I believe that man's activities certainly can be contributing to the issue of global warming, climate change."

Was she lying then or lying now?

Continue reading "Palin's Lies, Ctd" »

12 Sep 2008 01:18 pm

"More Of The Same"

Ezra Klein doesn't approve.

12 Sep 2008 01:17 pm

No Anger, Barack

Crowley counters Arianna. He's right. Now is the time for calm and coolness.

12 Sep 2008 01:07 pm

Reviewing Palin

Frum's analysis:

Those who wish to believe in her will continue to believe in her. As for the rest - well it's a 6 in 7 chance that McCain makes it to the end of his first term. That's pretty good!

This Palin farce has really revealed who among conservatives is still sane. Frum and Brookhiser are sane. Krauthammer and Kristol: not so much.

12 Sep 2008 12:53 pm

Blinking and Palin

It's a common metaphor for her in this interview. Here is how she described her decision to accept the vice-presidential nomination:

I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink.

So I didn't blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

And here she is on invading Pakistan:

In order to stop Islamic extremists, those terrorists who would seek to destroy America and our allies, we must do whatever it takes and we must not blink, Charlie, in making those tough decisions of where we go and even who we target.

The first thing that comes to mind is that the only people who have trained themselves not to blink when talking to anyone are self-trained pathological liars. We know she has lied multiple times in the past two weeks. In fact, the lies keep on coming. But what else has she lied about, I wonder?

12 Sep 2008 12:51 pm

Chill, Barack

Obama tries to hit McCain for being out of touch. I really think he doesn't need to go there. The McCain campaign is imploding. Do nothing but stay calm and focused on the issues:

12 Sep 2008 12:37 pm

Quote For The Day

"If it doesn't make sense, it isn't true," - Judge Judy Sheindlin.

In Sarah Palin, we have the apotheosis of the Judge Judy Republicans.

12 Sep 2008 12:35 pm

Shafer On Gibson

A tough critic tips his hat.

12 Sep 2008 12:07 pm

The Palin Nomination And The GOP

I really don't think what is happening now and will happen soon can be better described than this. Yes, Wile E. Coyote is McCain and Palin is that bow and arrow he thought would bring down Obama:

12 Sep 2008 12:03 pm

Derb Is Back

But still not a word about Palin. If I know him, I know what he thinks. Surely he isn't too cowed to say it? Good Hadron Collider joke, though.

12 Sep 2008 11:57 am

Palin vs Bush

Hilzoy delves into Palin's answer on the Bush doctrine:

When, as Palin said, "there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people", the claim that we have the right to preempt that strike does not require the Bush Doctrine; it just requires the old, and much more widely accepted, doctrine of preemption. That is: in what Palin says here, she's not actually supporting the Bush Doctrine at all. She's just saying what generations of American Presidents and candidates have said: that when a country is actually about to attack us, we don't have to wait for them to actually land a blow before we can strike back.

Palin opposes the Bush Doctrine and opposed the surge! The absurdity of her candidacy is beginning to become clearer and clearer.

12 Sep 2008 11:39 am

Ross Struggles On

A poignant post.

12 Sep 2008 11:35 am

The Implosion Of Palin

Fallows watches the interview:

What Sarah Palin revealed is that she has not been interested enough in world affairs to become minimally conversant with the issues. Many people in our great land might have difficulty defining the "Bush Doctrine" exactly. But not to recognize the name, as obviously was the case for Palin, indicates not a failure of last-minute cramming but a lack of attention to any foreign-policy discussion whatsoever in the last seven years.

We knew this already from this interview which I seem to be the only person to have noticed.

But yes. I'm thinking what you're thinking. It's over.

12 Sep 2008 11:30 am

Biden Releases Tax Returns

Good. He also includes his wife's, Jill's, unlike John McCain. Now where are his medical records?

12 Sep 2008 11:14 am

A Pathological Liar

Jake Tapper dismembers Palin.

12 Sep 2008 11:11 am

Quote For The Day

"It may be false. It may be true. But nothing has been proved," - Dusty Springfield and Pet Shop Boys, "Scandal."

12 Sep 2008 11:09 am

Why McCain Peddles Nonsense

Jeffrey Goldberg has the answer.

12 Sep 2008 11:01 am

The Palin Farce

A reader writes:

After watching that interview, can anyone honestly say that they think that Sarah Palin, the person who would take over the country in the event something happens to McCain, has more knowledge of policy than Charlie Gibson, the person giving the interview?

And isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

...Okay, isn't it at least supposed to be close??

12 Sep 2008 10:53 am

Krauthammer: The Mask Slips

A fascinating column, because it reveals just how little Charles grasps yet of Obama's abilities as a leader and a politician. Charles seems to believe that Obama is all celebrity and hype - even though he concedes that that celebrity and hype has lasted an awful long time:

Obama maintained altitude for an astonishing four years.

It's only astonishing if you cannot recognize Obama's skills, judgment and integrity. And does Charles really believe that Obama survived four years and a brutalizing campaign against him by the second most cynical machine in politics, the Clintons, purely because of hype and nothing? What contempt Charles must have for those millions who actually see that Obama has a first rate mind, a first rate temperament! But now check the purely partisan cynicism of his point:

     [Palin's] job is easier. She only has to remain airborne for seven more weeks.

So having mocked what he believes is celebrity in a Democrat, he is depending on it to bamboozle the American people in a Republican. Does he realize how cynical that makes him sound? If mere celebrity is pathetic as a criterion in a world leader, why is Krauthammer not dissing Palin? I mean: we know nothing about her, compared to Obama. He has had four years to be vetted. She was vetted in five minutes.

Now we know how Krauthammer really thinks: what matters is not that what he has just described as an empty dress shouldn't be president. What matters is that Republicans maintain power.

And Krauthammer thinks Obama jumped the shark? This absurd farce of a candidacy is exposing a lot of people, isn't it?

12 Sep 2008 10:16 am

How Swiftly She Abandons Her Faith

Sane evangelical David Kuo notices a fascinating aspect of the latest installment of the Palin farce released last night. It was her sudden abandonment of her faith for political expediency. Her speech at Wasilla was theologically orthodox when it talks of God's will. As David puts it:

There isn’t anything terribly controversial in what Gov. Palin is saying. This is orthodox Christian theology - the idea that God controls the outcome of all things. It is true in lives and it is true in politics. It is only because we live in a time of massive theological ignorance that clips like these raise an eyebrow. It is the kind of thing that evangelical Christians say to each other.

And now her response to this:

David notes:

When asked what she meant about saying our leaders were sending our troops to Iraq on a task “that is from God,” Gov. Palin replied that she was thinking about Lincoln at the time.

The idea that she was thinking about Abraham Lincoln at the time she was giving those remarks is laughable. It is the kind of spin that comes from secular political consultants desperately trying to make Gov. Palin sound “not too religious.”

Continue reading "How Swiftly She Abandons Her Faith" »

12 Sep 2008 10:05 am

"A Cocky Wacko"

Chafee on Palin.

12 Sep 2008 10:03 am

The Best The Base Can Do?

Reading RedState for response to the excerpts of the Gibson interview, we find this:

After all, she's running for VP. McCain is running for President. McCain Has to be good on foreign policy. She has the chance to learn.

An honest red-stater. He is conceding that of all the people McCain could have picked, he picked someone who knows next to nothing about foreign policy. What really amazes me is why Gibson did not ask her about her own record in talking of foreign policy. Her one clear statement in December 2006 was that she heard about the surge "on the news" and wanted an "exit plan." So on the core foreign policy plank of McCain's campaign, Palin is on record as being in disagreement. Here it is in full:

Continue reading "The Best The Base Can Do?" »

12 Sep 2008 09:42 am

Obama Leads In Foreign Policy, Bush Follows

In some ways, Obama has been a shadow president for a while. Even JPod now concedes that Obama has been right about the terror war:

I was among many people who ridiculed the Obama proposal at the time, on the grounds that a) no nation violates the territorial integrity of an ally, even if that ally is problematic, and b) Obama’s bellicosity seemed entirely unbelievable, given that he spoke in the wake of his remarks about meeting with the leaders of the world’s worst regimes “without preconditions.” On the latter point, he was and remains wrong and foolish.

On the former point, though, he was, apparently, precognitive, and may be due an apology.

Ya think? Radley Balko adds:

Continue reading "Obama Leads In Foreign Policy, Bush Follows" »

12 Sep 2008 09:36 am

The Lies Of Sarah Palin, Ctd.

The woman is pathological:

A fact-check report agreed that a part of Russia is visible from Alaska, as Palin stated. But it labeled “false” two other claims– that it’s common for VP candidates to have never met a foreign leader, and that she has not previously denied that humans play a role in global warming. Report said every living VP had met numerous foreign leaders before taking office, and quoted Palin recently saying she’s not one “blaming the changes in our climate on human activity.”

SO when confronted with a decision to own a previous public statement or to lie about it, Palin has lied twice on national television, with documentary proof that she is lying. Josh Marshall has to add two more to his seven demonstrable public lies.

What else is she lying about?

12 Sep 2008 09:07 am

Seal DNA

I see that Josh Marshall has gotten the same sort of e-mails I have received.

12 Sep 2008 08:59 am

God Or Satan?

Nick Carr, as is his wont, contemplates the theological underpinnings of Google:

Google differs from Microsoft in at least one very important way. The ends that Microsoft has pursued are commercial ends. It's been in it for the money. Google, by contrast, has a strong messianic bent. The Omnigoogle is not just out to make oodles of money; it's on a crusade - to liberate information for the masses - and is convinced of its righteousness in pursuing its cause. Depending on your point of view as you look forward to the next ten years, you'll find that either comforting or discomforting.

12 Sep 2008 08:44 am

Obama And Habeas Corpus

Do you think Palin knows what habeas corpus even is? I missed this speech by Obama from a few days ago. It's worth reading:

Calling it "the foundation of Anglo-American law," he said the principle "says very simply: If the government grabs you, then you have the right to at least ask, 'Why was I grabbed?' And say, 'Maybe you've got the wrong person.'"

Continue reading "Obama And Habeas Corpus" »

12 Sep 2008 08:29 am

Kristol Defends Palin

Watching him do this is going to be one of the highlights of this election season. Here's what Palin said in that absurd interview last night in her speech yesterday:

Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would "defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans."

Really? The people who "planned" the 9/11 attack? They're in Pakistan, governor, where your beloved president allowed them refuge. The people who "carried out" the attacks of 9/11? Most of them are now dead, but the few remaining are in Pakistan, not Iraq. Kristol defends thus:

Continue reading "Kristol Defends Palin" »

12 Sep 2008 08:14 am

It's Not Just Palin

McCain drops his press availability. It's been a month since his last press conference and there is no word on whether Palin will ever hold one, until she can bamboozle the press past the election. This really is more like Putin's Potemkin democracy than the tradition of American to-and-fro and open debate. Watching the man who once prided himself on talking to the press and giving straight talk turn into a Bush-Rove controlled propaganda merchant is yet another sign of the creepiness of the current GOP.

Some as-yet-undisclosed details on McCain's mysterious declaration of numerous interviews with numerous interviews with Palin next week.

Continue reading "It's Not Just Palin" »

12 Sep 2008 07:52 am

Quote For The Day

Pretty much sums up the Palin nomination:

"To see the ridiculous is comic; to be ridiculous is tragic."

12 Sep 2008 07:33 am

She Did Lie

Larison tackles Reihan.

12 Sep 2008 12:39 am

Palin On The Bush Doctrine

Er, what, er:

Gibson:  Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?

Palin:  In what respect, Charlie?

Gibson:  What do you interpret it to be?

Palin:  His worldview.

Gibson:  No, No, the Bush Doctrine.  He enunciated it in September 2002, before the Iraq War.

.

Continue reading "Palin On The Bush Doctrine" »

12 Sep 2008 12:07 am

George W. Palin

We have gotten used to Bush's decision-making style. Minimal input, instant decision, refusal to ever think again, and disdain for any process of thinking things through or ever having second thoughts. Just gut - and instant leaps. This description of how she made the absurd decision to run for vice-president is particularly chilling:

GIBSON: And you didn't say to yourself, "Am I experienced enough? Am I ready? Do I know enough about international affairs? Do I -- will I feel comfortable enough on the national stage to do this?"

PALIN:  I didn't hesitate, no.

GIBSON:   Didn't that take some hubris?

PALIN: I -- I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink.

So I didn't blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

Never blink, never think, just go with your gut. Pure ambition. Minimal thought.

Continue reading "George W. Palin" »

Thursday, September 11, 2008

11 Sep 2008 11:31 pm

Face Of The Day

Cazzandra Peterson leaves flowers at Ground Zero in memory of father William Peterson during the 7th annual 9/11 memorial ceremony September 11, 2008 in New York City. Family and friends of the victims, heads of government and others gathered at the annual ceremony to remember the attacks that killed more than 2,700 people with the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. By Peter Foley-Pool/Getty.

11 Sep 2008 11:23 pm

Quote For The Day

"If it doesn't makes sense, it isn't true," - Judge Judy Sheindlin.

I'd really like Judge Judy to interview Palin, wouldn't you?

11 Sep 2008 10:49 pm

One Preliminary Comment

Watching this for the first time, as opposed to reading it, it's very clear that Palin has never heard of the Bush doctrine on pre-emption, perhaps the most significant element of his disastrous legacy in foreign policy:

She is clearly out of her depth. And no hard questions about her record have yet been asked - let alone the questions that have been asked at every water-cooler in the country. I reserve judgment on the whole interview until I've seen the whole thing. But this exchange is a classic example of how she tends to lie reflexively when caught in an uncomfortable part of her record:

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a holy war?

PALIN: You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote.

GIBSON: Exact words.

So far, clearly able to recite talking points imprinted on her by Randy Scheueneman et al. But no actual understanding of the issues involved. She has met no foreign leaders ever, but she has been in touch with Randy Scheuneman's former client, the somewhat nutty Saakashvili.

11 Sep 2008 07:55 pm

The Gibson Interview

I just read it. I'm not sure how to respond because I believe the entire last two weeks have been a farce, and ABC News is now an integral, enabling part of that farce. It's also unfair to judge a partial interview, because Gibson has so far asked no questions about her record as governor or mayor, and none of the tough questions that a press conference would ask. Maybe that is to come. So I will reserve judgment until I'm able to watch and read the entire interview. All I have learned thus far is that a McCain administration would be prepared to go to war with Russia over Georgia and will never, ever criticize or oppose any decision made by the government of the state of Israel. And I knew that already.

11 Sep 2008 07:39 pm

John McCain, Shameless Liar

Glad to see that Jake Tapper is not going to roll over in the face of constant lies from the McCain campaign:

The most controversial item in the McCain ad is the assertion that Obama supports children "learning about sex before learning to read," and the accusation that Obama's "one accomplishment" on education was "legislation to teach 'comprehensive sex education' to kindergarteners." But both claims are false. The idea seems to be to paint Obama as an insanely liberal sleaze ball who wants to teach young kids who don’t even know how to read all about graphic sexual information. That's not fair and it's not accurate. One can only imagine what the John McCain of 2004 – who called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads “dishonest and dishonorable” – would say about this ad.

John McCain is dishonest and dishonorable. That much we now know.

11 Sep 2008 07:11 pm

Energy Sanity

Robert Rapier has a good idea:

I still believe the compromise I suggested previously is the right one. Open up some drilling, and earmark the money for programs designed to reduce our fossil fuel consumption. And by 'programs', I mean actual programs and not some pandering line about taxing oil companies to promote energy independence.

Continue reading "Energy Sanity" »

11 Sep 2008 06:14 pm

Substance

Welch thinks we'll get to it eventually:

McCain will largely try to run out the clock, and hold onto the Palin bounce. But lest ye despair over the Shallowness of Our Politics or whatnot, remember this: There still is one very significant difference between the two candidates (meaning: not just energy policy, where both candidates will magically wean us off furriner-oil while creating X million "green jobs" by 2025) that McCain still wants to talk about, even if there, too, he has some constituents to not offend. That issue is Iraq, and the broader questions of the Middle East, the War on Terror, and foreign policy overall. We will yet get an election on substance before the gong strikes midnight.

11 Sep 2008 05:49 pm

Remembering 9/11

I tried to write my immediate response to 9/11 within a week of it happening. The following essay is what came out. For all those who claim I have changed my mind or position on the fundamental issues at stake here, I hope they will do me the favor of reading the essay. I stand by every word of it. 9/11 was a call, in my mind, to defend the Enlightenment from the nihilistic forces of murderous theocratic fanaticism. What it demanded was a rediscovery of secularism and freedom in a war against the forces of Islamism and despotism. I still believe that those who instinctively responded to the attacks by blaming America were morally lost. But I equally believe that those who showed they were willing to throw away America's values in fighting Jihadism were wrong as well. And those who use religious extremism as a tool to get elected in America are pale reflections of the evil of Islamism - not the equivalent, as I have always insisted, but related. Christianism and Islamism are twin pincers against our freedom and against freely chosen, freely witnessed Christian and Muslim faith. Islamism is far more dangerous. But Islamism will never defeat America's core values. Christianism has already made a dent.

My essay, "This Is A Religious War" is below:

Perhaps the most admirable part of the response to the conflict that began on Sept. 11 has been a general reluctance to call it a religious war. Officials and commentators have rightly stressed that this is not a battle between the Muslim world and the West, that the murderers are not representative of Islam. President Bush went to the Islamic Center in Washington to reinforce the point. At prayer meetings across the United States and throughout the world, Muslim leaders have been included alongside Christians, Jews and Buddhists.

The only problem with this otherwise laudable effort is that it doesn't hold up under inspection.

Continue reading "Remembering 9/11" »

11 Sep 2008 05:26 pm

Dissent Of The Day

A reader writes:

Believe it or not, sequencing the DNA of Seals, Bears, Lobsters, pick-a-ridiculous-sounding-animal has merit, both in evolutionary and ecological terms.  Why these projects aren't funded through the National Science Foundation or the National Human Genome Research Institute and are instead shuttled off into earmarks is a valid question, but as a genetics professor, I'm tired of our field being the butt of an "easy" joke.

Fine, but your problem is with McCain, not me. Another reader and scientist adds:

Continue reading "Dissent Of The Day" »

11 Sep 2008 05:10 pm

Jury Nullification?

Radley Balko argues that "Libertarians could do worse than Sarah Palin." Something I didn't know:

Palin was also one of just three governors in the country to issue a proclamation in support of "Jurors' Rights" day, an event sponsored by the Fully Informed Jury Association, which encourages the doctrine of jury nullification. Nullification is an idea abhorred by tough-on-crime conservatives.

We keep finding out more, don't we? All I can say is that I'll do my best to give you everything out there. As I have.

11 Sep 2008 05:01 pm

Rove 2.0

Marc gives a pro's take on the pig and lipstick nonsense:

...news outlets are either giving McCain evil-genuis points for turning a nothing into a something, or are calling out the McCain campaign for being mean and duplicitous, but in any event, voters on the periphery of the conversation only hear enough to hear the accusations anyway.

We have less than two months to get past the lies and smoke of the McCain camp. I have faith in the common sense of the American people. I'm not sure I have much faith any more in the cojones of the MSM.

11 Sep 2008 04:39 pm

In A Campaign Not About Issues

Joe Klein fears the potency of Palin's story:

Palin's embrace of small-town values is where her hold on the national imagination begins. She embodies the most basic American myth — Jefferson's yeoman farmer, the fantasia of rural righteousness — updated in a crucial way: now Mom works too. Palin's story stands with one foot squarely in the nostalgia for small-town America and the other in the new middle-class reality. She brings home the bacon, raises the kids — with a significant assist from Mr. Mom — hunts moose and looks great in the process. I can't imagine a more powerful, or current, American Dream.

It is, indeed, a great concept. I can see why someone would want to buy it. I can see why those independents who were once Republicans might have been cheered by the concept of Sarah Palin, as McCain obviously was for the five minutes he thought it over.

Moreover, Joe doesn't mention here the critical element that really does make her a very powerful figure with the base - is her decision to go through eight months of nerve-wracking pregnancy to give birth to a child with Down Syndrome. To put herself through the emotional toll of that, because she doesn't believe in abortion (although she does believe in amniocentesis), and to risk all the physical dangers of giving birth to such a child in her forties, even to the point of braving what must have been a truly grueling airplane flight with her amniotic fluid leaking for twelve hours, is what makes or breaks her candidacy. As Tyler Cowen memorably put it two weeks ago:

There is one biographical fact about Palin's life that the critics (Drum, DeLong, Yglesias, Klein, Sullivan and Kleiman are among the ones I read) are hardly touching upon.  I mean her decision to have a Downs child instead of an abortion. This is the fact about her life and it will be viewed as such from now through November and perhaps beyond.

11 Sep 2008 04:24 pm

Drug Sanity

Bob Barr re-thinks the war on drugs.