“Let me just say categorically I’m proud of the people that come to our rallies.”
— John McCain, Oct. 15, 2008
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30 thoughts on “The pride of Pennsylvania”
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No sense in reporting both sides of the story, is there ?
I love it. Thanks for the lamest links I’ve seen in quite some time. I particularly like “You’re a liar!” being depicted as some sort of ugly attack. People are calling McCain a liar because he’s been lying. Not quite the same as calling Obama a terrorist and a baby-killer, unless you’re desperate to make it look like both sides are the same.And Madonna saying she’s going to kick Sarah Palin’s ass? You may recall — actually, I’ll bet you don’t — that after George H.W. Bush debated Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, he went on television and said, “I think we did kick a little ass tonight.” Big deal.
Dan — Have you emailed copies of this link to Emily Rooney and Joe Sciacca? On ‘Beat the Press’ last night the two of them were working overtime to downplay any other story on this issue that wasn’t from the veteran, 30-year journalist.The young man got some fascinating stuff. My one criticism is that he should have taken a page from Errol Morris’ book and posed the question and let the people talk. The follow-up questions seemed to shut down a group that was willing to open up much more than they did on the video.
Vox: Perhaps it didn’t come across, but I think Emily understands what’s going on. I didn’t hear her say anything during the show that suggests she thinks there’s an equivalence. She may not have been as outspoken as you’d like.
And I think Ferraro countered with “kiss a little ass,” which was hilarious. But here is another example cranberrycynic could have posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQalRPQ8stIThere has always been volatility of opinions and political views in this country. Some have been based on fact; some on fear. Some on hate and anger; some on perceived rights. We go through this every two years. Any student of history knows that this happens each and every cycle. The difference is that we are more connected to data and information than ever before. Instead of editorial cartoons and headlines in our newspapers displaying some of the most rancorous of opinions, we’re getting it fast and furious and digital. There really is little difference between the hatred displayed between Palin supporters mimicking Obama for his middle name, “Hussein” and New Yorkers booing and flipping McCain supporters the bird; Palin supporters showing off their Curious George Obama dolls and McCain supporters being calle fascists and Nazis. It’s all the same. It may seem new – or at least the last 16 or 17 years, probably since Bill Clinton was elected – but it actually goes back a lot further than that. Each side uses their own mechanisms to excite their own cause and keep us distracted over the crumbs while the top dogs destroy the country and steal trillions. Frankly, as someone who considers himself a political junkie and devours this stuff, I’m really sick of it all at this point. The 2008 presidential campaign has been too long. It has been vacant on substance. I’m sick of the lying on both sides … I’m sick of the fact that every supporter of the two major campaigns are controlled zombies following orders instead of being free-thinking people and realizing that a little bit of both campaigns – with a lot of Ralph Nader thrown in – is the answer to the country’s problems … I’m sick of campaign ads fibbing and twisting things [“McCain voted for trade deals that sent jobs overseas and destroyed the middle class…” eh, yeah, so did Joe Biden and a majority of Congressional Democrats!] … I’m sick of the brainwashing of things like the classic “Palin is inexperienced” when, in fact, she has more experience in executive offices, more experience balancing budgets, more experience as a small business owner, and more experience firing or attempting to fire bad government employees than Obama. Obama has more experience as a community organizer and more experience serving in legislative bodies. The difference? She isn’t at the top of the ticket. If you don’t like her opinions, that’s fine. But you can’t lie about experience. They are pretty much equal as far as experience goes. Yesterday, I was saddened to read that Bill Siroty will no longer be publishing NH News Links, a source for a lot of great stuff for many of us over the years: http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4257/end-era-nh-politicsReading this made me realized that, you know, there are a lot of important things out there that many of us may be missing because of our connection to everything online. I don’t post much – I have my own blogs, work stuff, and I post occasional comments here and PolitickerNH.com. But after this cycle, maybe we should all take a breather … assuming it isn’t a nail biter like 2000.
Tony: I watched the video. I heard one “Nazi Germany!”, which I certainly don’t approve of. Other than that, I think you could run the two videos side by side in order to make my point. Pretty tame stuff.Interesting that the video of the McCain-Palin crowd runs without comment, whereas the one of the Obama crowd is accompanied by a constant stream of text in order to “help” us know what to think.Huge news about Dr. Bill! Thanks. Will post on it later today.
“I’m sick of the fact that every supporter of the two major campaigns are controlled zombies following orders instead of being free-thinking people and realizing that a little bit of both campaigns – with a lot of Ralph Nader thrown in – is the answer to the country’s problems”And I’m sick of people who pretend to outside the fray and make comments about how everyone else is a lemming.”If you don’t like her opinions, that’s fine. But you can’t lie about experience. They are pretty much equal as far as experience goes.”Of course you can’t lie about experience. The difference is Palin apparently hasn’t *learned* anything from her experience and she certainly hasn’t shown the intellectual capacity to grasp complex issues. Experience is useless if you keep doing the same stupid things over and over and her pattern of hiring cronies, abusing her authority, and getting whatever she governs into financial difficulty seems to be her level of capacity.The need of the media and people in general to perform some sort of calculus to say both sides are equally bad amazes me. Both sides are *not* the same.
Maybe someone could explain to me why the Beat the Press panel all seemed to think McCain should be given (free?) time on the networks because Obama is buying infomercials on them. I guess I had just assumed the lopsidedness was just one of those results of a system based on capitalism. I’m willing to believe that I’m missing an important but unstated point here, so if someone could be explicit about it, I would greatly appreciate it.
I grew up in Western PA in the 1980’s, and I think that Palin supporters in the video voice attitudes that are still widespread, especially in rural areas. As a youth, I saw robed Klansmen creating disturbances in two PA towns. I remember seeing the word ‘nigger’ written on walls at my high school. Even today, it’s not uncommon to hear racist remarks about blacks, Jews and Hispanics in casual conversation. And all of this occurs in an area of the country where evangelical churches flourish. James Carville was right when he said that PA was Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with “Alabama up the middle.” I look very skeptically at polls which give Obama a ten-point lead in PA.
These are the very people who give aid and comfort to those wishing us ill. Nobody says it better than Tom Friedman: “Returning to the United States after a trip through Europe is like entering a third world country. A banana republic.” (I ought not be too free with these quotes, but they’re accurate to the best of my memory. Said on Charlie Rose.) And, reflect my experience precisely.
Ani: I am a staunch opponent of campaign finance “reform,” as I made clear on BTP. Probably the only thing Mitch McConnell and I agree on. I have no problem with Obama’s huge fundraising advantage.That said, the broadcast stations, by law and regulation, have public-service obligations. They enjoy an enormous benefit in the form of their broadcast licenses, and they are supposed to give back to the community. Providing free time for presidential candidates is one of the ways they should be required to give back. This would also be the perfect forum to hear from the third-party candidates.The networks benefit from these licenses both indirectly (network-affiliated stations) and directly (networked-owned and -operated stations). So yes, it comes down to the networks.The cable stations would presumably have different and fewer obligations, by the way. And once we move to all-Internet distribution, there should be no regulation or obligations.But as long as broadcasters are making use of a scarce public resource — the airwaves — they should be required to serve the public in return.
Thank you, Dan. Do I understand this correctly, that because of the networks’ public service obligations, they can’t sell infomercial time to political candidates without incurring an obligation to the other candidates? I guess I had thought it was the provision of free air time to a candidate that gave rise to the obligation to provide the same to the others, because not to do so would show political partisanship. So what you’re saying is that it’s not about (not) favoring a candidate but about serving the public good in a way that has been previously agreed upon and that kind of transcends the candidates’ own interaction? Thanks for taking the time.
The idea that Ralph Nader, or anyone else from outside the two major parties, is the answer is inane on its face. No third-party candidate would be able to get anything done in Washington. It’s hard enough for the party in power to accomplish anything. Without a built-in constituency in Congress, Nader would be DOA. (And listening to him speak lately, I’m not so sure that isn’t the case already.)
I agree with Dot Lane. There are lunatics on both ends of the spectrum.For you to not acknowledge that Dan is intellectually dishonest.I have taken in my share of anti-war rallies on Boston Common as a neutral observer and seen some things that would make you sick. I just don’t carry around a video camera with me.It’s offensive to me that you can’t admit there may be some supporters of McCain that aren’t racist lunatics.
Thanks for the video, Dan.Now I know where all the pro-casino folks I met at anti-casino rallies came from.
I have taken in my share of anti-war rallies on Boston Common as a neutral observer and seen some things that would make you sick. I just don’t carry around a video camera with me.Well, Mark, maybe you should give it a try. Then you’d have some credibility. Besides, if you’re talking about the radical anti-war crowd, many of them hate the Democrats, too.A typical tactic of those who try to make it seem like they’re all just as bad is to compare the behavior of the left-wing lunatic fringe with the mainstream of the conservative movement. The folks walking into that Palin rally in the video are not the lunatic fringe, although they may well be lunatics.It’s offensive to me that you can’t admit there may be some supporters of McCain that aren’t racist lunatics.It’s offensive to me that you think I’ve ever said anything even remotely like that.
I am still amazed by people who say that Obama and Palin have roughly the same experience/qualifications. No, they don’t, and it’s not even close. Obama graduated from Columbia University with a political science degree that specialized in international relations. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he lectured in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, one of the most prestigious in the world. After practicing law and serving as a community organizer–which the Republicans find funny–Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate representing a district with a population about equal to the entire state of Alaska, and more than 60 times larger than the population of Wasilla. Face it, Obama is a well educated, widely read, intelligent person with more exposure to Joe’s–both sixpack and plumbers–than Sarah Palin will have in a lifetime. The part that is really a riot is the fact that these days we treat smart, articulate people as out of touch elitists.
Two quick points: Dan: There are other videos and blog posts out there about rabid Obama/Biden people attacking McCain/Palin supporters and calling them Nazis, fascists, warmongers, and everything else. I mean, there is a ton on both sides. You know it is there. A pox on both their houses. As far as the experience argument, we’ll agree to disagree. I contend that if you if you listed the life experiences and resumes of both Palin and Obama side by side, you would see that both have limited experience. But of that limited experience, Palin has more small business and executive experience than Obama. Just because Obama went to Harvard Law and Palin didn’t, doesn’t make him more experienced. Working your ass off trying to balance the books of your own small business for years and years while raising a family is a hell of a lot more important in the eyes of tens of millions of voters trying to do the same thing than working for a non-profit registering voters or doing a bit of pro-b legal work. Question: When was the last time Obama balanced a town or state budget? Never. Palin’s done that … for numerous years. I mean, come on. Well-educated? Have you seen what “well-educated” MBAs have done to the economy lately? And this from someone who went to Harvard at night for two years.
Tony:1. If you’ve got or can point to a video of Obama supporters acting as grotesquely as the folks in that Palin video, let’s have it. And let’s have them be recognizably Obama supporters, as opposed to pro-Mumia hippies or some damn thing. I agree that “Nazis” and “fascists” are out of bounds, but “warmongers” is a pretty accurate summation of McCain’s and Palin’s public statements and, in McCain’s case, his record.2. It was Mike who pointed to Obama’s Harvard education, not me. I think Obama would have been much better off if he’d gone to Northeastern.3. You keep bringing up Palin’s experience in running a small business. I must say, that’s a new one on me. Care to enlighten us?
A combination of racial remarks, threats of violence, large crowds, and inflamatory rhetoric reminds me of precursors to a lynching — for me, at least, it’s that resonance that makes the stuff associated with McCain/Palin rallies a problem beyond the “politics as usual, everybody does it.”
Tony, let’s agree to disagree–agreeably. Honestly, I think you and I could balance Wasilla’s budget between innings of the Red Sox game tonight, and still have time to go to the fridge. Especially if, as the Guv likes to do, we decide that our philosophy is to boost our friends and nail our opponents.
“Question: When was the last time Obama balanced a town or state budget? Never. Palin’s done that … for numerous years. I mean, come on.”Any idiot could balance the budget the way Palin did. She raised taxes as Mayor and still left her town millions in debt, and then raised fees on oil companies as Governor (which is a tax by any other name). Big effin’ deal. And that rebate to everyone in Alaska from the oil money? Pure socialism.
Whether or not you might think balancing the budget in Wasilla was a difficult job, it was no doubt made substantially easier because the city hired a Town Manager to perform much of the administrative work.
michael’s right. And taken to the next level, where did people get this notion that the President sits down with an Excel spreadsheet and crunches numbers? He has a large team to handle the budget, not to mention the House’s and Senate’s roles.
http://www.reason.com/blog/show/129596.htmlThis is pretty despicable, no?
http://www.wxow.com/global/story.asp?s=9219326&ClientType=PrintableAttacking a man's home – where his family lives. That has to top yelling something offensive at a political event.
“3. You keep bringing up Palin’s experience in running a small business. I must say, that’s a new one on me. Care to enlighten us?”The Palins own a fisheries business and a snowmobile racing business. She had a consulting firm for a while and they have both made small investments in other family businesses. So, yeah, she has small business experience.
Tony: Inc.com just posted a story. The subhead:On the campaign trail, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is quick to tout her “executive experience” — including what she says is her background as a small-business owner. But an investigation finds a relatively thin entrepreneurial resume that includes a now-defunct carwash and her husband’s modest fishing business.
http://www.local6.com/politics/17784129/detail.htmlIt gets more frightening…
On the campaign trail, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is quick to tout her “executive experience” …Well, her “executive experience” comes from being a mayor and a governor. Those are “executive” branch positions in government. There is a difference between “executive” and “legislative.” In fact, Palin was a city councilor before becoming a mayor. So, she has legislative AND executive branch experience in government. Obama has ZERO executive experience. Nada. Nothing. Her “small business” experience comes from owning a fisheries business and a snowmobile racing business with her husband and running her own consulting firm. She has also been a working journalist and sportscaster. But, as we all know, there is no real life experience in being a journalist or sportscaster or business owner or consultant … especially when comparing it to attending classes at Harvard Law or being the editor of the Law Review and supposedly never writing a single story for it.Hey, folks don’t like Sarah Palin and don’t like her opinions. No problem. But she has as much life and political experience as Barak Obama. That’s just a fact.