Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Go Us

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  • sagenz,

    link for above Palin vs Obama

    It seems some are forgetting that Palin is only going for the number 2 position. The way Craig is writing he seems to think McCain will die on day 1.

    So compare the no2 Rep who has nailed people from her own party from corruption with the actions of Obama and our very own helen clark

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    The way Craig is writing he seems to think McCain will die on day 1.

    *blink* Esqueeze me? I'm running out of reality checks here, but I have a sixty three year old partner and am getting to the age where I'm reluctantly accepting that the body can't take a thrashing like it used to.

    I certainly wouldn't be evil enough to wish death on anyone, let alone to a timetable. But I did make a statement of fact that eight PsOTUS died in office -- and the difference between a Truman or a Roosevelt and a Jackson or Coolidge does matter. Really.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Bob Munro,

    Re the vetting process. At the convention are all the reporters and all the key Republican staff. It's becoming relatively easy for the reporters to get people to talk.
    This from The Los Angeles Times.

    One Republican strategist with close ties to the campaign described the candidate's closest supporters as "keeping their fingers crossed" in hopes that additional information does not force McCain to revisit the decision. According to this Republican, who would discuss internal campaign strategizing only on condition of anonymity, the McCain team used little more than a Google Internet search as part of a rushed effort to review Palin's potential pitfalls. Just over a week ago, Palin was not on McCain's short list of potential running mates, the Republican said.

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    link for above Palin vs Obama

    Redstate.com, where Palin is descibed as "__Smoking__ hot in a "naughty librarian" sort of way". That's the infantile dweeb vote captured then. To placate the frumpy fundies, though, she'll need to don something like a down-homey gingham burqa, with maybe little puffy sleeves to retain something of that smoking hotness.
    Good luck.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Mark Harris,

    a "naughty librarian" sort of way".

    ???

    ::shakes head sadly::

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report

  • Mark Harris,

    That said, I married a librarian and they really can party!

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report

  • JohnAmiria,

    Employer received $1,000,000.00 federal earmark, requested by husband, after her promotion

    the Feds gave a million dollars to a University hospital? Crikey, that really is the slippery slope to socialism ...
    And are you sure it was $1,000,000.00 and not $1,000,000.98¢?

    I have a sixty three year old partner and am getting to the age where I'm reluctantly accepting that the body can't take a thrashing like it used to.

    Maybe it's time you let him hold the whip once in a while Craig, and you might get a few more years yet!
    </ba-boom!>

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • sagenz,

    Craig - half of those dead presidents were assassinated. With Hillary's comments suggesting Obama might get shot and the stoners who tried to get to the dems convention is seems McCain and Obama share the risk of needing to rely on their no 2.

    it is quite amusing observing the frenzy of comment from you and others. McCain. Unserious & cynical. Yeah right. Just ignore his whole life and political career

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report

  • Simon Grigg,

    it is quite amusing observing the frenzy of comment from you and others. McCain. Unserious & cynical. Yeah right. Just ignore his whole life and political career

    you sound very uncomfortable SageNZ. Maybe you should do some cherry picking and tell us all about it. Start with the stuff about being a war hero.....

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report

  • JohnAmiria,

    FWIW: I think we need to acknowledge that KOS got it half right (Palin's teen daughter was pregnant and the mono story was BS) and given the circumstances I think their (albeit wrong) conclusion was reasonable.

    hither and yon • Since Aug 2008 • 215 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    Craig - half of those dead presidents were assassinated.

    A point which, for anyone with a concentration span greater than that of a mosquito with Alzheimers, Craig had already made perfectly clear. Seriously Sagie, you got basic comprehension issues.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Sage:

    I'm getting really tired of repeating this, but I'm reasonably confident none of the Presidents who died in office (whether they were murdered or died of natural causes) were planning to do so.

    And you're quite right, President Obama might choke to death on a canapé at one of the inauguration balls. But then again, Joe Biden (like his politics or not) is a serious and experienced choice to fill out the ticket. You're not convincing me that Palin is the same. I'm sure she's a very nice person, but she's no Theodore Roosevelt or Harry Truman.

    McCain. Unserious & cynical. Yeah right. Just ignore his whole life and political career

    No, like Obama there's much to admire (and disagree with) about McCain. But this pick is not among them.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    I'm sure she's a very nice person

    I'm dubious. What kind of power-mad wackaloon asks a librarian to sign a loyalty oath?

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I'm dubious. What kind of power-mad wackaloon asks a librarian to sign a loyalty oath?

    Hum... Don't you think I'm a nice person, Danielle? </strokes kitty in a Blofeld-like manner....> :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • sagenz,

    Seriously Sagie, you got basic comprehension issues.

    ah read craigs response. there are comprehension issues but they are not mine or craigs.... do you need more hints :)

    <QUOTE>you sound very uncomfortable SageNZ. Maybe you should do some cherry picking </quote>

    mmmm cherries :) uncomfortable??? hell no I am having loads of fun winding you lot up.

    The main axis in McCain’s worldview is not left-right. It’s public service versus narrow self-interest. Throughout his career, he has been drawn to those crusades that enabled him to launch frontal attacks on the concentrated powers of selfishness.....

    ...When McCain met Sarah Palin last February, he was meeting the rarest of creatures, an American politician who sees the world as he does. Like McCain, Palin does not seem to have an explicit governing philosophy. Her background is socially conservative, but she has not pushed that as governor of Alaska. She seems to find it easier to work with liberal Democrats than the mandarins in her own party.

    the best understanding so far of McCains motivations except for not understanding that Reagan was easy for his people to work for. They understood his morals and governed accordingly. simple really. as far as mccain is concerned he has found a like mind. you lot really dont understand how simple it is because you are thinking in terms of how clinton, blair, clark et al would approach it. as I said before. It is about character. You have that and experience does not matter. Obama has demonstrated a grasp of oratory and playing the political game but he has voted way left in the senate and not demonstrated any ability to behave with personal integrity.

    Alaska has a GDP of $41bn. Palin took on her own party and the oil giants and won in boht cases. She will be no 2 learning at the guidance of a master. Imagine her in 8 years after what she has achieved in the last 2.

    Craig - I dont mean to wind you up. consider your politics. Neither candidate nor pairing is perfect. Who is. But look at voting records and outlook on trade and economics. protectionism and politics as usual from a new face or governance by a guy who has just re-written the whole goddam rulebook with his VP pick. You think he is going to have the nads to pay any attention to the wittering columnists or he will get on and do what is right.

    I can imagine Obama bombing Iran cos the polls tell him he needs to be seen to be strong and I can imagine McCain doing a Sharon and negotiating a genuine peace with Iran.

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report

  • sagenz,

    simon g - i would have said hi over at your blog but you only offer the whole google/blogger monopoly and i dont buy that shit

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    a guy who has just re-written the whole goddam rulebook with his VP pick

    Yes, that 'actually knowing the person beforehand' rulebook, and the 'checking out their background' rulebook, and the 'not choosing someone who's solely a pandering token' rulebook... he certainly is amazing, all right.

    I can imagine Obama bombing Iran cos the polls tell him he needs to be seen to be strong and I can imagine McCain doing a Sharon and negotiating a genuine peace with Iran.

    Yeah, I can imagine a lot of things when I'm on acid too. It's a hell of a drug.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    I think we need to acknowledge that KOS got it half right

    Conceding no such thing, see the other thread.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Don Christie,

    Todd Palin Quit 17-year BP oil job when BP became involved in natural gas pipeline negotiations with wife's administration

    You need to research harder Sage, Todd's back on the payroll.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    McCain 'bouncing', but in the wrong direction. Latest tracking polls.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    ou sound very uncomfortable SageNZ.

    Nappy rash.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Craig - I dont mean to wind you up. consider your politics.

    I do -- I'm certainly more in sympathy with McCain than Obama on trade issues. OTOH, I've got to note that Obama was credible in calling bullshit on the gas tax holiday both McCain and Clinton were all for.

    And it is certainly an innovation for McCain to pick a running mate whose record is, to put it politely, wafer thin. I just don't think that's anything to be proud of, because a veep pick should NOT be something you pull out of your arse to "burnish your maverick credentials".

    (And as I've said before, if he really wanted to distance himself from the GOP establishment, and select a woman, why not go for a moderate, well-qualified one like Olympia Snowe or Condi Rice? Or, if you wanted to pander to the base, what was wrong with Kay Hutchinson - who was reportedly on McCain's longlist until fairly recently -- a textbook God 'n' Guns Texas Republican who has at least been around for more than five minutes. If she's not acceptable to "the base", who is?)

    And just as a matter of interest, what exactly is Palin's record on trade issues? That's right -- SHE DOESN'T HAVE ONE. As President of the Senate, would she cast her deciding vote against a pork and ear-mark laden spending bill even if much of that pork was inserted by Republicans? Who knows - a few weeks ago, she seemed ever so slightly fuzzy on what the Veep actually does. What kind of advice would she offer on foreign affairs -- again, based on current evidence, she doesn't have a single idea worth listening to in her pretty little head.

    Which might well be exactly what McCain wants. But I expect a little better.

    You think he is going to have the nads to pay any attention to the wittering columnists or he will get on and do what is right.

    Come on, Sage. I suggest he really should pay some attention to "wittering columnists" on the right who aren't swallowing the party line doublethink.

    And let me say this one more time: Margaret Thatcher is a political godess in my book -- but she earned the keys to Ten Downing Street with a considerable track record as a Minister of the Crown, Opposition leader and MP.

    Palin is not fit to shine Lady Thatcher's pumps.

    Here's the last reality check I've got to sign. Sarah Palin is neither qualified nor competent to be the Republican nominee for the Vice-Presidency of the United States. And I'm not lowering the bar because she has a cunt, a viable uterus, knows her way around a rifle and an Oprah-ready "narrative".

    That's "identity politics" of the most (yes) cynical and patronising kind. And I don't apologise for holding McCain to the very benchmarks he's set for himself as the candidate who, unlike Obama, would show judgement and deliberation based on long experience. Well, if this is the kind of decision-making we can expect from a McCain Administration, to hell with him.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Mark Harris,

    Bugger.

    I find myself in agreement with Craig. (except for his lurid Thatcher-worship)

    Somebody please send Satan some ice skates? He's obviously in need of them...

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And, Sage, I'd also make the point that whoever wins the election, their transition team will have to start thinking about filling hundreds of staff, Cabinet and sub-Cabinet positions. The high profile, and contentious, ones that require Senate confirmation (like the Secretaries of State and Supreme Court justices) tend to get all the press attention, but it would certainly not be good for New Zealand if McCain was equally slap-dash in appointing the next Ambassador or State Department point man on managing trade relations in this corner of the globe. Don't you think?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Matthew Poole,

    The high profile, and contentious, ones that require Senate confirmation ... tend to get all the press attention, but it would certainly not be good for New Zealand if McCain was equally slap-dash in appointing the next Ambassador

    Just a point of order, Mr Ranapia, Ambassadors also require Senate approval. For some bizarre reason the Constitution wants elected representatives to conduct cursory examinations into appointees who have the authority to declare war in their country's name.

    But your overall point is spot-on. Palin, by all appearances, is a second-best (if that) choice. How many other second-bests might be foisted upon the US people, and the world, if McCain's elected? He couldn't find a solid candidate to be his number-two (wo)man, and that's arguably the most important position he ever has to fill, maybe excepting SCOTUS justices.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report

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