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September 06, 2008
Some questions for Bob Schieffer
Posted by: Andoni
Now that Sarah Palin has been nominated by the Republicans as their vice presidential candidate, she is nowhere to be found to answer the questions of reporters. Apparently the game plan is to keep her away from them until she can undergo a crash course on foreign issues and how to answer questions without tripping up. Most candidates for president or vice president learn this over a long career or if relatively new, during the long grueling presidential primary. Sarah is going to learn all this in two weeks. I don't want to be facetious, but I have significant executive experience. If I take a two week crash course, am I ready to be vice president?
More seriously, since the press doesn't have the opportunity to ask Palin some of the burning questions, it should question the next best available person. That would be John McCain, who will just happen to be on CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer tomorrow.
Bob Schieffer is a serious reporter. If he is so inclined he can get to the bottom of some of the most pressing Sarah Palin questions and as a result be a hero to other journalists. I know Bob is quite capable of coming up with his own questions, but here are just a few I would like asked to help clear things up:
1. Senator, when you introduced Governor Palin as an agent of change who fights against earmarks and pork, did you know that she lobbied for the Bridge to Nowhere when she ran for governor and actually accepted many millions of dollars for it, working hand in hand with Senator Ted Stevens to get that money. She only said, "Thanks, but no thanks" after Congress killed the project and said if the bridge was to be built, the state would have to pay more and finish the project. Did you know that she is actively lobbying for another pork bridge project? Would you say this is someone who is against earmarks?
2. Senator, when you selected Governor Palin were you aware that as mayor of Wasilla she hired a lobbying firm actually connected to Jack Abramhoff to bring lots of pork to her town and she was successful to the tune of $27 million, more than $1000 for every man, woman and child in that town? Does this sound like someone who fights against pork to you?
3. You described Governor Palin as a fiscal conservative. Were you aware that when she became mayor her town had no debt load, but she left it with $19 million in long term debt? Is this a fiscal conservative in your opinion?
4. Senator McCain, you said that Governor Palin had executive experience. Did you know that as mayor of Wasilla she borrowed money for a hockey rink, built roads to it, and built the rink only to discover that the land was not thoroughly researched for the city to receive clear title? As a result, the town was embroiled in years of litigation costing it an extra $1.3 million dollars. Furthermore, the rink was supposed to generate revenue, but to this day is running in the red. Is this an example of a good executive? If this were an executive of a small corporation, would you conclude that they should be promoted to be executive of a large corporation?
5. Senator, when you introduced Governor Palin to America, most of America did not know her, but you vouched for her personally. You only met her once and vouched for her and her entire career. Can you tell America something to put our minds at ease that vouching for someone you only met once to possibly be president of the United States is not an irrational action?
6. Finally, Senator, you and the other Republicans laughed approvingly when Governor Palin relayed the story that the private jet the state owned for the governor was too much, so she put it on eBay. Do you believe politicians riding around in private jets is something that should be scorned? And how do you reconcile getting mileage out of this story when you ride around in a private jet?
Thank you very much, Senator.
Addendum: I'll take wagers on how many times he invokes being a POW to evade answers to these questions.
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Comments
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If Palin's family is fair game, then lets investigate the Obama family too. Do you know that Obama's Muslim half brother is homeless in Kenya? He helps other folks on welfare who are too lazy to work, but won't help his own family.
Obama's mother was knocked up by a Muslim black man at the age of 18. I'm sure her parents were very proud.
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Jim Treacher dealt with this issue very nicely yesterday.
Especially given Andoni's "facts" of last weekend, it couldn't be more appropriate.
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Obama's mother was knocked up by a Muslim black man at the age of 18. I'm sure her parents were very proud.
Considering that she produced the man who now has a decent shot at becoming the "leader of the free world," I'd imagine they are quite proud indeed. Even if she got knocked up by, gasp, a BLACK man. A Muslim, no less!
The reason this doesn't get more coverage is exactly because the attitude you approach it with is racist and intolerant. Sexism is bad, and the Republicans are occasionally right to accuse Palin's detractors of sexism, but racism is a MUCH more sensitive issue. If McCain's campaign were to make an issue of Obama's background, they run the serious risk of appearing intolerant and driving away ALL of the minority vote. And rightly so. As I've pointed out earlier, there's nothing inherently bad about Muslims, and it's no longer acceptable to frown on miscegenation, as you seem to be doing here.
Why I bother to respond to your comments at all is beyond me, but there's my two cents anyway. Country first, right? Yeah. Quit making your country look bad, hmm?
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NDT -
Treacher's analysis is a reasonable one, though I'm not entirely sure it holds up. One, Palin has no right to withhold her presence because she might not approve of the way the media has treated her. The media massacres Pres. Bush, does that give him the right to stop releasing information to the public until the media decides to play nice with him? If she wants our votes, she better start letting us know who she is, and if she's as squeaky-clean as Treacher suggests, then the truth will certainly come out. What does she have to gain by waiting?
Second, I think his toss-off assertion that Obama got a pass on his background because he's a liberal is also skewed. The conservatives have created this bugaboo of the "liberal media" but it's mostly fantasy, invented, brilliantly, as a manipulative technique. My theory is this... Palin was treated this way not because she is conservative, but because she was never publicly vetted. Yes, she is governor of a state, but it's not a terribly populous one, and nobody had heard of her, or even knew she was on the short-list. I think if the Democrats had pulled Obama out of a hat at the last second, he would have gotten exactly the same treatment. I don't think the treatment has been fair, but I also think the absence of fairness has nothing, ultimately, to do with the fact that she's a conservative or a woman. My opinion, anyway.
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Yes Andoni~I'm quite sure you're loving The BIG O's interview with Bill O'reilly as well...The only forum which Sarah has to answer questions is in the debates. The media is NOT the 4th branch of government, so don't get your manties in bunch...
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Here comes the racism already...
Since when is being Muslim something to be ashamed of. No religion, ethnicity, gender, etc should be thought of as less humane or less American.
Our country is a melt pot. There is no "typical American". That's what makes this country so great. That in this great country a person such as Barack Obama who is half black and half white, grew up in Hawaii, and raised by a single mom has the opportunity to become our nation's leader.
The whole "Country First" thing is another example of below the scene racism and questioning his patriotism. So I support Obama...does that not mean I don't support my country or our troops? John McCain couldn't even vote for the GI Bill that provideds benefits to the troops he wants to use to occupy Iraq for the next hundred years.
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John McCain couldn't even vote for the GI Bill that provideds benefits to the troops he wants to use to occupy Iraq for the next hundred years.
The comments to this entry are closed.
G Michael on Sep 7, 2008 10:19:49 AM:
The blame the media campaign that McCain and Palin are running is laughable. McCain at one point during the primaries said that his base was the media. You have Fox News who only covers stories that are postive for McCain and negative for Obama. Palin asks for privacy for her family after they announced her 17 year old daughter is pregnant yet their campaign pimps them out for photo ops. Reporters need to get back to what journalism is all about. Asking the tough questions to everyone and letting the voters decide. I'd be nice if the "liberal" media started asking them to McCain and Palin as they have been doing for Obama these past two years.