Congress, Fox News, GOP & Prostitutes, News, Ohio, Polls
Conservative columnist David Brooks is against Sarah Palin. Who can be for her?
Brooks picks up on themes surprisingly similar to those expressed recently by New Age leader Deepak Chopra. Chopra noted that Palin’s small-town values and ignorance of world affairs are a rejection of the global realities of this century. Brooks agrees that pride in ignorance is not necessarily a virtue.
…in America, there has always been a separate, populist, strain. For those in this school, book knowledge is suspect but practical knowledge is respected. The city is corrupting and the universities are kindergartens for overeducated fools.
The elitists favor sophistication, but the common-sense folk favor simplicity. The elitists favor deliberation, but the populists favor instinct.
Look at the condescension and snobbery oozing from elite quarters, her backers say. Look at the endless string of vicious, one-sided attacks in the news media. This is what elites produce. This is why regular people need to take control….
And then Brooks says something I never thought possible.
I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice…It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.
…As George Will pointed out, the founders used the word “experience†91 times in the Federalist Papers. Democracy is not average people selecting average leaders. It is average people with the wisdom to select the best prepared.
Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.
Today’s Rasmussen poll shows McCain at 48 percent and Obama at 47. Three days ago, it was McCain at 50 and Obama at 47. The initial thrill (or shock, depending on your politics) of Palin’s selection is wearing off. People are starting to wonder who this woman really is, and how much they can trust her. Obama’s numbers need to start rising, but I’m encouraged that McCain’s are falling. With even FOX News pushing back against the flagrant lies in McCain’s ads, the tide might be turning.
I predicted McCain would end up dumping Sarah Palin in a scenario acted out in 1972, when Sen. George McGovern was forced to accept Sen. Thomas Eagleton’s resignation as his running mate. Now I’m wondering if McCain has the strength of character to admit his reckless disregard for Americans in choosing someone he thought could help him win instead of someone who could lead the country.
Souls are only ours to sell once. The current owner of McCain’s soul shows no sign of letting him out of the deal.
“Today’s Rasmussen poll shows McCain at 48 percent and Obama at 47. Three days ago, it was McCain at 50 and Obama at 47.”
And those figures are most likely skewed in McCain’s favor, as they are taking for granted that McCain will get more than his fair share from independent voters. I DOUBT it Johnny-boy! That’s why I went independent, so I could protest in my own little way why still voting democratic most of the time.
Definitely last but not least, I think the repubs have a LOT to worry about with McCain saying a couple of months ago he didn’t know much about economics. That rightfully SHOULD be the final nail in McCain’s coffin (with Obama’s camp hammering away at it) but ignorant folk aound the U.S. will probably ADMIRE it instead.
Let’s examine these polls for a minute; they lean on registered or likely voters; what about the millions of newly registered voters? What about the millions of college students and 20-somethings who don’t have a land line? I believe that will have a significant effect on the election. Why isn’t this being discussed more often?
Geez, can it be true that our likley voters are likely using their brains? Is it possible that there are more “nikolais” out there using the independent brand to vote democratically? All I know is that I read this as good news. And I PRAY for the continued good health and well being of any under-25 year olds who are voting for Obama!
It was the mainstream media that was all aflutter about Palin. As is often the case, when one network gushed the others followed suit. The only people I know who seemed thrilled with her were the RNC attendees. And, of course, she seemed like a wonderful balance to McCain’s old, tired and clueless image. Once again the mainstream media took something, blew it up into a big “story”, bandied it about and now we discover it was mostly fluff after all. The more people learn about Palin, the more revolting she appears.