What is most important in a President is, first and foremost, dignity, self control, and maturity. Naturally, nobody normally mentions such aspects as being important in an American President because they are sine qua non... or at least were, until Sarah Palin came along.
Sarah Palin is the first potential major presidential candidate to lack the dignity, self control, and maturity necessary for a President. To put it simply, she really shoots her mouth off... and childishly as well.
Seriously: Read some of Sarah Palin's "tweets" and Facebook posts and try imagine any other past American president (or candidate thereto) speaking in such a way.
Andrew Sullivan said it very well today:
"[This] isn't is anything approaching the kind of character we expect in a president. A simple respect for the office she seeks would not reflect itself in these increasingly callow, sarcastic, cheap jibes at a sitting president. But sadly, like so many now purporting to represent conservatism, there is, behind the faux awe before the constitution, a contempt for the restraint and dignity a polity's institutions require from its leaders.Amen. America needs a genuinely respected President representing it, not a shallow twerp with a rhetorical arsenal limited to low-brow populisms, threadbare aphorisms, redneck sensibilities, and a seventh-grade girl's sense of humor and propriety.
There is no maturity here; no self-reflection; no capacity even to think how to appeal to the half of Americans who are already so appalled by her trashy behavior and cheap publicity stunts. There is a meanness, a disrespect, a vicious partisanship that, if allowed to gain more power, would split this country more deeply and more rancorously than at any time in recent years. And that's saying something."
14 comments:
Ms.palin was electedted governor of Alaska.She resigned to take on a job w/Fox News and write books.Ms.Palin has made $12million by trading in her job that she was elected to do,and asked for the job simply by running for the office.Ms.Palins'abandoning of her constituents to make a fortune is not illegal.It is however reprehensible and despicable in light of the fact that she may seek the Presidency.What will Ms.Palin do to advance her personal fortune then,when she has the Oval Office in hand?How much money will she seek then,to forward her personal fortune/net worth/career?Ms.Palin has put her own financial well-being before the well-being of the people of the State of Alaska and by doing so can never be trusted to not "sell out"her constituents again,especially when her constituents will be the entire citizenry of the USA.
However comical the above statements may be,it is true.Ms.Palin is a whore.The others of her ilk at least wait until they are out of office to cash in on the favors granted them for voting in congress the way they are paid to by big-monied interests that screw the American citizens out of Jobs,healthcare and everything else that benefits them.
The Corporations run the world,tell everyone what to do,when to do it,and where they will do it.The Ms.Palins of this world just put on a show and laugh all the way to the bank,making a mockery of the whole system and acting as if they care about doing something positive to help the USA regain its world stature,while doing nothing.Obamacare was a diversion.At a time when un-employment and a $10billion/month war needed to be adressed,the commander-in-chief puts healthcare on the front burner?They are all the same these politicians,corporate shills in different political clothing.And we the people stand for it.Disgraceful.
Well said to the Nov 29 1:07AM poster.
I am glad that there are some that "get it" instead of blindly following the moronic crowds in the USA.
All ad hominems. specfifics please.
Willy,
Sorry: The specifics were referred to in the link that I provided.
The posting in particular read:
My fellow Americans in all 57 states, the time has changed for come. With our country founded more than 20 centuries ago, we have much to celebrate – from the FBI’s 100 days to the reforms that bring greater inefficiencies to our health care system. We know that countries like Europe are willing to stand with us in our fight to halt the rise of privacy, and Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s. And let’s face it, everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma and they end up taking up a hospital bed. It costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early, and they got some treatment, and ah, a breathalyzer, or an inhalator. I mean, not a breathalyzer, ah, I don’t know what the term is in Austrian for that…
It was essentially, in response to her own gaffe of saying that North Korea was our ally, a listing of every verbal flaw that Barrack Obama has ever made. In other words: A childish "him too" defense of her own mistake.
Of course this is all just your opinon, afterall look where hope and change has gotten us
Tasij,
First, just because the current President is failing to meet your (or others) expectations, does not mean that a vapid and ham-handed poser like Sarah Palin should be America's first choice for a replacement.
Second, regarding "this is all just your opinion"... I actually would be interested to see if you could find a major politician, political pundit, journalist, writer, thinker, or other leader who thinks that Sarah Palin would be a good President... in other words, find just a single person like that who does not share my opinion (and a link to their opinion, if you please).
Hi Jil.
RE - your reply to tasij - Palin 4 prezident, many people think P would be a good president,
according to this poll 27% see her as qualified for the presidency. http://tinyurl.com/pln4przdnt
27% is a pretty weak level of support to put someone in the Oval office. But still - its more than a quarter and not far from a third! It astonishes me that she is even that popular.
What I fear however, is that current day America can be manipulated into a hyped-up state of fear and anger sufficient to shift 27% somewhere up above 40%.
Then all it takes is the addition of one strong, leftish, independent candidate to the presidential race and suddenly even P could be elected. Just as R. Perot diluted
the Republican/Conservative vote bloc when he ran, the same could be done to the left in the 2012 election.
Jeez, I'm scaring myself.... time for a glass of warm milk...
Glad to see you're getting along well in Florida. You may convince me to retire there based on $. Any more rooms in your mom's house? :-D
Jil,
Reread my last post and decided it needs a bit of clarifying.
Let me be clear! :-)
I don't support palin in anyway. I simply cannot refuse to see that she is popular with a certain segment of the population. (insert comment about raising more money for literacy programs here...)
I put Palin among those who completely misunderstand what America is and what the principles of our constitution are.
I don't know why but there is a group of people out there who keep making the same fundamental error about why we (America, the USA) has to protect the rights of ALL people, not just the ones we like.
If we allow the govt to arbitrarily take away the rights of ANY group and mistreat them, we have created the situation where that govt can do the same to anyone by simply producing some justifying rationale. ( "enemy combatant", "wearing perfume with explosive chemicals" )
The steps from "Liberty and Justice for all" to "No Liberty or Justice at all" has a total count of "2". Its a very very short trip.
I wrote this simply to make clear what my position is. Its not any attempt to debate or convince anyone.
Grumfan,
I would say that... oh... approximately 27% of the American population is of the disposition and intelligence that they can be suckered into thinking that what this country needs right now is anti-intellectualism, down-home-ism, populism, and anti-government individualism. And one particular person represents that.
(I also think that part of that 27% who thinks Sarah Palin is qualified is actually people who don't think she is qualified... but will just provide any answer that is "anti-Obama"... and will vote for anybody who is not Obama.)
I can say that I have yet to see any serious political mind stand up and say that they would want Sarah Palin to be President of America. And, hope against hope, if she ever became the nominee, every intelligent American would realize what an unmitigated disaster she would be for the country.
OK I accept your challange, About we first start with Former President Bill Clinton http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/5258887/Bill_Clinton_heaps_praise_on_Sarah_Palin_John_McCain_Barack_Obama_Not_so_much/, Do you remember Erin Brockovich http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/27/pollution.usa,(paragraph 15), even candians sing her praises http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/16067, and here are some vets4palin http://vets4sarah.net/, people in hollywood, like award winning actor Michael Moriarty, http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/author/mmoriarty/and yo know i had to add the the brother and former gov of the state you reside in Jeb Bush, http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2010/10/jeb-bush-on-sarah-palin-for-president-you-betcha.html, I hope I met your challenged, and as for me not approving Of our dear president performance i have alot of company
http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Job-Approval.aspx it took bush 5 years to get to 45% it only took Obama 2 yrs
LINK #1: Bill Clinton.
The quote basically stated that he understands why Sarah Palin is a popular candidate, but did not say that he thought she was a qualified (or even good) candidate.
LINK #2: Erin Brockovich.
The quote supports Sarah Palin's strong character traits, and I will call it an endorsement, but for Vice President. (But she also claims to "like" Obama and McCain too.)
LINK #3: Bob Beers (not Canadian).
I would call that an endorsement, but Bob Beers is a web designer and part time State Assemblyman.
LINK #4: Vets4Palin.
Obviously an endorsement, but they are just "regular cizitenry" in this exercise.
LINK #5: Michael Moriarty.
Not sure: I could only find one passing mention of Sarah Palin at the link you provided, and it was neutral in context, at best. Sorry.
LINK #6: Jeb Bush.
Sure enough! A full-on endorsement.
Tasij, I am genuinely impressed and I certainly appreciate the time you took to do all that. I will fully admit that you have met the challenge I set admirably.
However, I would like to note that in my opinion, only Erin Brockovich's and Jeb Bush's links were endorsements that meet the grade in this exercise: Finding "major politicians..." et cetera as above, who believe Palin is qualified to be president.
Even you have to admit that one secretary-turned-environmentalist and one former state assemblyman, is not too impressive a chorus for Sarah Palin. That leaves you with Jeb Bush who, while definitely notable, is still only one person... out of the entire nation's sociopolitical theatre. I imagine Mike Gravel has more endorsements than that.
In other words, you couldn't find one politician still in office (especially at the national level... a Congressman like Michele Bachmann, or a Governor like Haley Barbour), one major columnist or broadcaster (like Limbaugh, Malkin, or even a top-shelf blogger like Pamela Geller), one major conservative writer, conservative television personality (like Beck or Hannity), or anyone else of that level who is willing to state that Sarah Palin is qualified to be President... let alone endorse her.
As for Obama being at 45% in only 2 years, Reagan made it to 43% in the same period of time.
In my lifetime and I’m 60+ I have never know the US to have a President with the utmost integrity apart from Ronald Reagan and even he was a B Movie actor. Sarah Palin would be no different to the others, so why not give her a try.
I’m an outsider looking in of course.
Thanks for the kinds words, and I was just answering your challange, but in fact I don't put too much stock in other people opinons unless I have the same experiences, i seem to find everything is relative and people views are usally the sum of their experiences, and I will listen to pundits but I will usally make up my own mind, I am amused when people get "all wee wee up" over what SP says on facebook, (not in an interview or a publish column), and yet excuse our vice president for things he has said like this gem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIT3jUrNTX0 "You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.... I'm not joking." and this one, "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." –Joe Biden, to me it is unbalance.
I found it interesting yo brought my favorite president RR, it is true his AR was at 43 at this time, but he did mange to bring them up to around 58 by the time he left office and today his rating is around 74, even GW Bush rating are improving just 2 yrs after he left office, and again just people opinons, even today over 200 yrs after he left office they are still difining george washington's presidency. i listen to alot of conservitive talk radio (being retired has its good points) and most have favorable opinons of sarah (but concerns about her being able to win the election)but these guys don't write alot about her, good or bad
Sorry about going on so long, thanks for giving me a soapbox
Seventh grade? God you are generous...
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