Sarah Palin is a what?
I'm a bit confused about some things here. I've been reading from sources far and wide that Sarah Palin is about as right-wing conservative as you can get. And, honestly, I don't know a lot about her. I don't think most people do, really. But at the same time in random places I keep running across actual quotes from her that suggest that, while I believe her to be unprepared for the job of being President based on what she doesn't seem to know about foreign policy, she is not that hardcore in terms of conservatism. Also, she knows, I think, quite a bit about oil and gas and energy policy; the fact that I don't agree with some of her ideas in that area does not mean she doesn't know what she's talking about.
Check these out:
Palin: I'm saying that, personally, I would counsel the person to choose life, despite horrific, horrific circumstances that this person would find themselves in. And, um, if you're asking, though, kind of foundationally here, should anyone end up in jail for having an ... abortion, absolutely not. (from her interview with Katie Couric). [So, OK, it's unclear on what legal standing she thinks abortion should have. But this is far from the most conservative, right-wing opinion I've ever heard on the matter. Also, on the related matter of her daughter's pregnancy, she hasn't seemed all that hardcore Christian conservative either.]
In March, Palin approved a widely praised legislative effort that would increase education spending by about $200 million over five years, an increase made possible by revenue surpluses from the rising price of oil.
The most contentious environmental issue within Alaska recently has been the fight over the proposed Pebble Mine, one of the world's largest discoveries of gold and copper. The proposed mine would be at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, home to one of the world's largest runs of wild salmon.
In response to a candidate questionnaire two years ago, Palin told The Anchorage Daily News, "As part of a Bristol Bay fishing family, I would not support any development that would endanger the most sensitive and productive fishery in the world."
BUDGET Even with the state enjoying a multibillion-dollar surplus because of high oil prices, Palin has vetoed about $500 million in capital spending projects requested by state lawmakers in two consecutive budgets. She also supported putting about $7 billion of surplus revenue into state savings over two years.
A chunk of that surplus, about $2 billion, came from the governor's effort to increase taxes on the oil industry. Palin's initial proposal would have brought in about $600 million more in oil taxes, but when lawmakers raised oil taxes higher, Palin continued to support the measure. That angered many conservative Republicans, as did the governor's plan to use about $740 million of the surplus to give each Alaskan a $1,200 "rebate" to help pay for high energy costs.
Even so, she has passed over chances as governor to take bold legislative stands on conservative social issues. She declined calls by abortion opponents this year to hold a special session to pass a measure requiring minors to get parental consent before having abortions.
(all the above are from the IHT)
She said intelligent design should be taught in schools — along with evolution. She said she favored the teaching of abstinence — along with the teaching of sex education. "Let the kids debate both sides," she said. (from this IHT article about her previous debates when she was running for governor)
...and Joe Biden voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. I'm sorry. I don't want to be defending Sarah Palin, but from what I've read of what she's actually done as governor and what she has gone on the record with, I just don't buy the hype that she's going to be the worst thing for this country that could ever possibly happen. Especially not after 8 years of Dick Cheney. I think there are a lot of factors going into this portrait of her that people are trying to paint, but for my money, I'd rather have some facts and evidence than unsubstantiated opinionating.
Fie on you media! A pox on all of you except the International Herald-Tribune. Well, and those pundits appearing on Comedy Central.
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Or Kenny G, perhaps. I forgot about John Tesh. But, gee, thanks for reminding me.
You know, I actually met Kenny G at an event I catered back in the college days. He's, like, 4 feet tall.
I want to run my fingers through his glorious hair.
I've looked for information about her, too, and found more on her tenure as the Mayor of Wasilla than as Governor of Alaska. Her accomplishments as Mayor did not impress me at all, and even scared me a bit. I also found her stance on Pebble Mine interesting... She doesn't think the polar bear should be considered an endangered species (so to hell with its habitat), but because the mine would have been right at Bristol Bay and would have interfered with the salmon industry (which, let's face it, is big business in Alaska), she opposed it. Would she have opposed it if the gold and copper discoveries were in another area, one that wouldn't have affected the salmon industry but could have decimated the polar bear population instead? I'm not saying that polar bears are more important than salmon; it just seems like there was an ulterior motive (namely business) to this opposition.
Anyway, that's just me opining again.
I like reading international news better than the domestic varieties, anyway. I started reading The Economist in high school, and I still devour it whenever I get a chance to sit down with a copy. If only the subscriptions weren't so blasting expensive!
I think the media...I don't know if I'd say they've exactly been "easy" on her. I guess they have, but to me the point is really that the media seems less for or against a candidate and more just pro-ignorance or something. I think in the last presidential debate, the moderator dude was expecting more substantive answers, but neither candidate really said anything, like they aren't really saying anything about anything that matters anymore, and so the media just finds "issues" that don't matter a fig anyway. And some of the debates before this one were ridiculous, with all the flag pins and crap. The media have access to candidates that normal people don't have, so when they won't ask the right questions or offer up the right information, it can be damned hard to get it. And the media loves the personal narrative part of this all. They do it a lot with both McCain and Obama. McCain, the POW; Barack, the son of a Kenyan father, raised by a single mother, etc. McCain, the reformer! Obama stands for hope! Both of them lately seem rather short on concrete ideas, but as long as we have these personal narratives, I guess that's what we're supposed to vote for.
I totally agree with you about McCain. I know he has to do the politicking but I am finding it rather disgusting. But I also feel like the information being presented in most of the media I watch/read is completely misleading about Sarah Palin, and I think now the position of Vice-President matters in a way it didn't used to matter, so I'd like to know what the two veep candidates actually stand for. I mean, I just want factual information instead of the "she's ultraconservative/he's ultraliberal/she's a small-town girl/he's a big-city elite" crap. That isn't what this should be about. It doesn't mean I want to vote for her, of course, although I really dislike Biden, I just want to know what I'm voting for or against.
I know...I love The Economist, too, and our local library doesn't get it!
I think she would have supported the mine if it affected polar bears rather than salmon. I think overall her environmental record, from what I've seen, is pretty bad, at least in terms of my concerns about the environment (they're fairly standard for Alaskans--Alaskans, except in Juneau, are not typically environmentalists. I wonder if it's because nature there seems really unspoiled, and so big, and like nothing we could do could really ruin it forever. It does seem that way up there. Most Alaskans favor drilling in the ANWR, for example). I think the salmon thing is about business, but salmon fishing is really culturally loaded, too, in a way that polar bears aren't. So possibly it's a bit of both, but I'm sure the business aspect of it is important. Without the salmon industry, Alaska would be in trouble. There is oil and gas revenue out the wazoo, but you have to have jobs for people, too.
Yeah, I know she was declared off-limits by the McCain campaign which says extremely worrying things about him and his advisers (Jon Stewart compared her to Cheney and said that her hiding proved that she was ready to be a V-P...har har). I didn't see Couric's interview with Biden. I don't really watch the three major networks. Actually, I don't even think we get the big three anymore. But if they couldn't get at the source now, why didn't more of them go back to her gubernatorial record (short though it is--although, really, it says more about her than Obama's senatorial record says about him, except that he was present a lot) and so forth, like the IHT/NYT did? The stuff from back then is public record, so it shouldn't have been that hard to dig up, but that's the only source where I've really seen most of it.
I don't know. I just want some sound basis to decide on, even though there was never much chance I would have voted for McCain, but still, I want to have sound reasons for not voting for him. I have a strong dislike of Biden, though, too, just like I didn't want to vote for Gore because the thought of Tipper being First Lady scared the bejeezus out of me. This is the first time since I reached majority that I am seriously considering not voting.