Wednesday, September 03, 2008
The Questions That Really Need To Be Asked
Over the past few days, I’ve listened and read a whole bunch of junk about John McCain’s choice for VP. As I am now extremely tired of the BS coming from both sides, I think we need to boil down the questions about Gov. Palin down to only a few basic questions. None of these have anything to do with her family, her religion or her ability to hunt moose (which a speaker at last night’s Republican Convention mentioned as being worthy of praise).
Here's what I think should be the thrust of any discussion of Sarah Palin at this time. Simple and straight forward.
1 - That she is a fine person, but does that mean she's ready to be President?
2 - That although she has experience in as an executive of both a town in Alaska and the state of Alaska, there has been controversies in both places about her unfairly firing those who did not do her bidding. In fact, she's under investigation in one of those incidents. If she were to be elevated to the office of President, would she use the same criteria on personnel decisions as she had previously used? Does this not follow the example of Nixon during Watergate?
3 - That although she talks about fiscal responsibility, she made sure that her town of 7,500 people was the recipient of over $21 million in earmarks. She hired a lobbying firm for this purpose. She also was not, as she had earlier stated, against the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" until it became obvious that it wasn't an idea anyone would be behind. Does this rebut her claim of fiscal responsibility?
4 - She believes that "creationism" should be taught in schools alongside "evolution", as if it were a scientifically validated theory also. Does she really believe this and to what ends would she work to make it come to pass?
5 - She is against a woman's right to choose. She is specifically against the idea of a woman being able to get an abortion in cases of rape and incest. Does her stance not seem both judgmental and (in the case of a victimized woman) cruel?
6 - She has stated that she does not feel the Vice President's job is important, and as of a few months ago was not sure of the responsibilities of the office. Does she understand the importance of the office, the responsibilities of the office, and the constitutional constraints put on the office?
7 – She has not spoken at any length about foreign policy. She has only left the northern hemisphere once in her life. What are her beliefs/opinions about the dangers she sees in the world, outside of the talking points which the McCain campaign is going to give her. What is her grasp on world history, and our relationships with other countries?
8 - That this decision is not really about Sarah Palin. This is really about John McCain's judgment. Instead of standing by his beliefs, he instead chose Gov. Palin without completely investigating her background and political beliefs. He did so because he was afraid of the extreme right-wing of his party, putting his own political future ahead of his country's needs. Does this call into question John McCain’s judgment as chief executive? How often does he make decisions without learning all the facts available to him?
Here's what I think should be the thrust of any discussion of Sarah Palin at this time. Simple and straight forward.
1 - That she is a fine person, but does that mean she's ready to be President?
2 - That although she has experience in as an executive of both a town in Alaska and the state of Alaska, there has been controversies in both places about her unfairly firing those who did not do her bidding. In fact, she's under investigation in one of those incidents. If she were to be elevated to the office of President, would she use the same criteria on personnel decisions as she had previously used? Does this not follow the example of Nixon during Watergate?
3 - That although she talks about fiscal responsibility, she made sure that her town of 7,500 people was the recipient of over $21 million in earmarks. She hired a lobbying firm for this purpose. She also was not, as she had earlier stated, against the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" until it became obvious that it wasn't an idea anyone would be behind. Does this rebut her claim of fiscal responsibility?
4 - She believes that "creationism" should be taught in schools alongside "evolution", as if it were a scientifically validated theory also. Does she really believe this and to what ends would she work to make it come to pass?
5 - She is against a woman's right to choose. She is specifically against the idea of a woman being able to get an abortion in cases of rape and incest. Does her stance not seem both judgmental and (in the case of a victimized woman) cruel?
6 - She has stated that she does not feel the Vice President's job is important, and as of a few months ago was not sure of the responsibilities of the office. Does she understand the importance of the office, the responsibilities of the office, and the constitutional constraints put on the office?
7 – She has not spoken at any length about foreign policy. She has only left the northern hemisphere once in her life. What are her beliefs/opinions about the dangers she sees in the world, outside of the talking points which the McCain campaign is going to give her. What is her grasp on world history, and our relationships with other countries?
8 - That this decision is not really about Sarah Palin. This is really about John McCain's judgment. Instead of standing by his beliefs, he instead chose Gov. Palin without completely investigating her background and political beliefs. He did so because he was afraid of the extreme right-wing of his party, putting his own political future ahead of his country's needs. Does this call into question John McCain’s judgment as chief executive? How often does he make decisions without learning all the facts available to him?
# posted by Kevin @ 10:34 AM 
