Sarah Biden- Vice-Presidential meltdown.
October 2, 2008 by PUMA Pundit
Here it is folks, the perfunctory denoument of Sarah Palin Biden before the debate. Courtesy of Victor Davis Hanson @ NRO:
Journalists continue to ask, “What was John McCain thinking in selecting the gaffe-prone Gov. Sarah Palin?”
In what has now become a disturbing pattern, the Alaska governor seems either unable or unwilling to avoid embarrassing statements that are often as untrue as they are outrageous. Recently, for example, in an exclusive interview with news anchor Katie Couric, Palin gushed, “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’ ” Apparently the former Alaskan beauty queen failed to realize that in 1929 there was neither widespread television nor was Franklin Roosevelt even President.
Sometimes the Idaho-native Palin seems to confuse and embarrass her own running mate. Shortly after her nomination, she introduced a “John McAmerica;” then she referred to the Republican ticket as the “Palin-McCain administration;” and finished by calling Sen. Obama, “Senator George Obama.” The Palin gaffes seem to be endless: on her way to Washington to meet the national press corps, Palin, the mother of five, once again stumbled — this time characterizing Senator Biden as “Congressman Joe Biden,” who, she chuckled, was “good looking.”
But then Palin only compounded that growing image of shallowness when introducing her own snow-mobiling husband Todd, “as drop-dead gorgeous!” And when asked about the controversial McCain ad suggesting that Barack Obama had introduced explicit sex education classes to pre-teenagers, the Christian fundamentalist Palin scoffed that it was “terrible” and that she would have never had allowed such an unfair clip to run — before retracting that apology under pressure from the now exasperated McCain campaign staff. But then, according to press reports, wild Sarah only made things worse still by announcing that paying higher taxes was the “patriotic” thing for Americans to do.
This week, the gun-owning, moose-hunting Palin also promised blue-collar Virginians that she would protect their firearm rights — even, if need be, from her own running-mate: “I guarantee you, John McCain ain’t taking my shotguns, so don’t buy that malarkey. Don’t buy that malarkey. They’re going to start peddling that to you. I got two. If he tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem. I like that little over and under, you know? I’m not bad with it. So give me a break. Give me a break.”
Palin may have had some experience in Alaskan politics, but at times the former small-town mayor seems unaware of the pressures of running a national campaign in a diverse society. For example, Palin — who has had past associations with reactionary groups — caused a storm earlier when she characterized Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama in seemingly racialist terms: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Such stereotyping suggested that the Alaskan was not aware of the multiracial nature of American politics — an impression confirmed when in her earlier gubernatorial run, she had once suggested that to enter a donut shop was synonymous with meeting an Indian immigrant.
The recently-elected Governor Palin was further rattled by media scrutiny, when, in a moment of embarrassing candor, she confessed, “Mitt Romney is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Quite frankly he might have been a better pick than me.” That confession followed an earlier deer-in-the-headlights moment, when the nearly hysterical Palin urged a wheel-chair bound state legislator to rise: “Sally, stand up, let the people see you!”
The Palin gaffes are no surprise to those who have followed closely her previous races. They cite her aborted governor campaign, when she was forced to pull out after fraudulently claiming that her working-class family had been Idaho coal miners — in an apparent case of plagiarism of British Prime Minister candidate Neal Kinnock’s stump speech. Palin once boasted: “I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Sarah Palin’s the first in his family ever to go to University . . . is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright . . . who worked in the coal mines of Northeast Idaho and would come up after 12 hours and play volleyball?” It did not help Palin that reporters quickly discovered that while as a student at the University at Idaho she had been caught plagiarizing and also misrepresented her undergraduate transcript.
Most recently on the campaign trail, Governor Palin apparently promised a vocal supporter that the United States would certainly not burn coal to produce electricity — even though roughly half of current U.S. power production is coal-fired. The same uncertainty seems to extend to foreign policy. Under cross-examination, Palin appeared confused about her own recent trips abroad, first claiming that her helicopter had “been forced down” in Afghanistan, although other passengers suggested the landing was a routine cautionary measure to avoid a possible snowstorm. Palin likewise had alleged that she was shot at while in Baghdad’s Green Zone, although there was no evidence from her security detail that she had, in fact, come under hostile fire.
The Obama campaign has lost no time in hammering at the former hockey-mom Palin’s foreign-policy judgment, alleging that shortly after September 11 she once suggested sending $200 billion to Iran as a “good will” gesture, and reminding journalists that in repeated interviews, Palin had called for dividing Iraq into three separate nations, despite Iraqi resistance to such outside interference. Palin, the nominal head of the Alaskan National Guard, has also falsely insisted that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen had once suggested that we were losing the war in Iraq and that the Bush administration had sent Undersecretary of State William Burns to Teheran to meet with Iranian officials.
In response to Palin’s unbridled misstatements, journalists have coined the term “Palinism” — the serial voicing of sweeping declarations that are either insulting, or untrue — or both. No wonder rumors mount that Sen. McCain is now seeking a possible graceful exit for the gaffe-prone Palin, even as the Obama campaign continues to make the contrast with their own sober and circumspect Joe Biden.
I picked this up off of Greta’s blog: PLEASE HELP!
Comment by USN
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
http://news.justia.com/cases/featured/pennsylvania/paedce/2:2008cv04083/281573/
American People:
Write or call the Honorable R. Barclay Surrick in the United States District Court, For the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and request that he NOT dismiss the case that Obama and the DNC has recently requested that he do.
Berg v. Obama, DNC, FEC, and Does 1-50 Inclusive
Case Number: 2:2008cv04083
Filed Date: August 21, 2008
R. BARCLAY SURRICK
8614 U.S. Courthouse
Donna Donohue, Secretary . . . . (267) 299-7630
ACTION!!!
I called today and left a message (it was too late), I’ll call again tomorrow!!
Funny how the MSM misses these nuggets… wow, I thought they were ‘investigative’ journalists. Guess I was wrong.
good luck convincing judge surrick that mr berg has standing in that case. some yahoo tried the same trick with mccain because he was born on a us military base in panama. a similar group tried to prevent the bush/cheney ticket from taking office because they were residents of the same state (texas), which is in violation of the 12th amendment. in each case, as will happen in the case against senator obama, the plaintiff was found to lack standing, and the case was dismissed.
journalists aren’t investigating these cases against senators mccain and obama because they are patently absurd.
This article is satire, right?. Wasn’t it actually Biden who said that about Palin? Is Victor Davis-Hanson reframing all of Biden’s gaffes, as if they had been said by Sarah?
This case has been going on since before the convention; I’m not a lawyer but if Berg lacked standing wouldn’t this have been thrown out already? The question is why doesn’t Senator Obama just produce his real birth certificate? That would shut everybody up wouldn’t it? Don’t we have a right to know? Instead he files papers at the last possible moment and that can easily be interpreted as an attempt to delay things until after the election.
the original petition was filed by mr berg at the end of august, about 6 weeks ago. that’s not very long. the judge is likely to make a decision on the defendant’s (i.e., obama and the DNC) request for dismissal soon.
look at the findings of fact in the plaintiffs petition - he actually cites wikipedia as a source. what a joke.
So how bout’ that debate?
~Roza
Hi Roza - unfortunately I didn’t get to watch it. I have homework tonight and finals to work on for the next two weeks.
How did it go?
WOW, you’ve got finals already!?! My semester just started in August.
Anyway, it was a GREAT debate! Sooooo much better than the Presidential debate. Even though I think Joe Biden presented the best case, I think Sarah Palin did a great job, I think she was herself, and I think the campaign should just let her be Sarah. She is a much better candidate when she is real and not so scripted.
Good job to both! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
~Roza
Figures - I watched the McCain/Obama one - and it was pretty boring.
I have online classes - I travel over 60% of my time for work - so the internet is the best way to go - travel - work and absolutely no sleep. I actually have a 1 week break for the first time in a year coming up - I swear my main focus is to sleep and sleep and sleep.
Have a good night!
Wooow, yeah you catch up on those zzzzzz.
Will do. Tomorrow’s another day - another battle
Just-an-Observer:
You seem to be doing more than just observing on this matter; Would it have been dismissed already if Berg had no standing? I work with kids and have had to account for every minute of my life in order to have that privilege; Every time I change jobs I have to do it all again. Including the summer I lived in a tent in Wyoming. Why shouldn’t Obama just produce his birth certificate and answer questions about his past associations? Have you had time to watch We Will Not Be Silenced? It is eye-opening.
Hey Roza & Sparky The debate was great You have to hand it to Sarah she’s a quick study and that’s a good thing.
badlybehaved,
Wasn’t it so much better than last week’s debate?
~Roza
Roza: Last week I had what could only be called cognitive dissonance; I stated in an earlier post that it was like suddenly cheering for the football team that was always your arch rival. What I liked about tonight is that they were civil to one another; You had the feeling they could and would work together.
I co-edited a newspaper in High School with a girl that called herself Amy the Great but signed her articles Amylemagne , like Charlemagne. How about Rozalemagne?
Cuuuuuute!
~Rozalemagne
P.S. Ok now don’t laugh at me when I start signing off like that:)
It’s a deal; Night
nite.
the judge is going to rule on the issue of standing shortly. the issue at hand is whether or not obama is a citizen of the USA, not his associations. he has provided a birth certificate to various media outlets. the only people seeking more documentation are those who have an axe to grind.
as far as i am concerned, this case is an embarrassment and an unnecessary strain on the legal system. furthermore, the fact that anyone would actually believe that a call to a judge would influence his or her decision is shocking.
stick to the questionable associations …
I know this seems like a petty issue, however, I am an American citizen born overseas, and it should be a very simple matter to simply submit the necessary documents, especially for someone with a law degree with sights on the presidency. It is a fundamental requirement of the job.
UPDATE ON BERG vs. OBAMA & DNC
Posted by Glenn Flowers on Friday, October 03, 2008 8:16:11 AM
At last report, the co-defendants, OBAMA and the Dem. Nat’l Committee, had filed a motion for dismissal of the suit on grounds of lack of standing by Berg, and their claim that harm had not actually occurred which is required for a claim of damages.
On Sept. 29 the court denied the motion to immediately dismiss and asked the plaintiff to file a brief in support of his claim of standing and to define the claim of damge already caused to the plaintiff, all in order to validate the lawsuit being filed and dispute the motion to dismiss. The judge set a due date for the brief of Oct. 2. The plaintiff filed the requested brief on that date and was assured by the court that similar short time constraints will be imposed on the defendant to file a brief supporting their request for final dismissal and disputing the plaintiffs brief in support of the suit. The court also asked the plaintiff’s council to attach a draft of the court order the plaintiff seeks to his brief which was done.
In most cases a draft of the order sought is a routine request by a judge which serves to both narrow the scope of orders sought by the plaintiff and also saves the court’s time by being used as the official ruling of the court if so decided.
So, once the plaintiff’s brief is provided to the defendant they will have four days to respond. That puts us at Oct. 6 or 7 for their due date, and a similar period for the judge to consider both, and then, AND THEN…. And then Along came Joohhhn ….. Loong thin Johhhnn…. uhhhh… no… OOPs, wrong song.
And then, possibly within a similar short time period, a ruling by the court on the motion for accellerated discovery and, maybe even a ruling on damages. Once the discovery motion is granted, the draft ruling states the defendant has 72 hours to produce all of the following, a certified, vault copy of Hawaii’s Cert. of Live Birth for Barack Obama, Jr., a certificate of citizenship from the US Dept. of Naturalization or State Dept., and a signed Oath of Allegiance by Obama, required for naturalization. If this order of discovery is not obeyed, or if any of the documents are found to be fake or non-certified, or if they show Obama is a naturalized immigrant, (parents who were not both citizens) the judge will grant the motion to declare Obama citizenship insufficient for eligibility to be president. He will then be liable for the damages claimed and possibly be prosecuted for fraud, forgery, perjury, etc.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Berg v. Obama Update — Monday, September 29
Berg to File Opposition to Obama’s Motion to Dismiss Today
Jeff Schreiber: Legal writer by day, exhausted law student by night. Lucky husband and proud father throughout.
Among other authority cited by Obama and the DNC in support of the first defense was Hollander v. McCain, a recent case from New Hampshire in which the court held that Fred Hollander, asserting the claim that Arizona Sen. John McCain was ineligible for the presidency based upon his birth in the Panama Canal Zone, lacked standing to sue. In that case, the court cited several factors in its decision:
1. Regardless of McCain’s eligibility for the presidency, his candidacy did not constitute a “restriction on voters’ rights” as it did not preclude Hollander or anyone else from voting for another candidate in the New Hampshire primary.
2. The “generalized interest of of all citizens in constitutional governance” was not enough to claim harm.
3. Hollander failed to allege that any harm was indeed proximately “traceable” to McCain’s alleged unlawful conduct.
4. McCain was “unquestionably an American citizen.”
Berg is quick to distinguish Hollander. First, he says, Obama’s candidacy for the presidency in the general election prevents citizens from voting for Hillary Clinton despite her 18 million votes received in the primary election. Second, the harm Berg suffered is particular to him because he has been denied the constitutional right to cast his ballot for an eligible candidate. Third, his claims of injury can indeed be traced to Obama’s unlawful behavior, his “failure to disclose information to which American voters are entited.” And finally, the defendants have failed to show, as mentioned by the New Hampshire court in Hollander, that Sen. Obama is “unquestionably an American citizen.”
Dear PUMA Pundit:
Far be it for me to complain of subtile, dry humor, but this satirical squib had me scratching my head along with Brunhilda. For all its archness, its not really laugh-worthy or illuminating.
At the least you could have included the author’s caveat:
“This parody is by NRO contributor Victor Davis Hanson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.”
Fannie Mae was created in 1938 to help people buy homes who wouldn’t have been able to without Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae’s capital comes from the sale of government guaranteed bonds. This is a system that has worked very well for decades. Franklin Raines and other executives realized that the way to get huge bonuses for themselves (Raines got 90 million himself) was to make MORE loans. There were only so many lower-income people who needed a loan and could afford to make payments.
Raines came up with an innovative approach: Fannie Mae abandoned income verification because this process was restricting the number of loans (and, therefore, Raines’s bonuses). He created a series of clever new loans where homeowners’ payments doubled after just a few years. Many unsophisticated home buyers were unaware that their loan payments would increase, and drastically, fatally.
Federal regulators recognized the threat to Fannie Mae, the taxpayer, and the economy, and warned Congress. In 2005 Congress initiated reform, Senator McCain sponsored the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005. Had this bill become law, the abuses would have been illegal, the present crisis would never have occurred.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=12341996