…and this is a 
Palinanity
Category: Politics • Religion
Posted on: September 3, 2008 7:20 AM, by PZ Myers
This is a terrifying video. It's Sarah Palin going on and on in front of her Assembly of God church, talking about the war in Iraq as "a task that is from God", promising the congregants the gift of prophecy, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…it ought to make any rational human being ill.
But that's not the scary part. The truly frightening prospect, and the thing that we must not forget lest we underestimate Palin, is that huge numbers of people in this country will find that blithering speech uplifting and wonderful. We atheists view it with alarmed horror, that an idiot like that could be considered vice-presidential material, but there are people in your neighborhood right now who will watch that and say that she is obviously a good person, they will identify with her, and they will vote for her.
While most of her positions are outside the mainstream, this flavor of Jesus-talk is not. While her hypocrisy of talking small government and detesting federalism while expanding government and raking in pork may grate on people who look at her record, all most are going to see is that she is pretty and upbeat.
I know. She sounds like a moron. But get ready, she's also a walking advertisement for the corrupting power of religion to mask substance and elevate superficialities and lies to the status of perceived truth.
McCain/Palin could still win this election, unbelievable as that may sound.
Politics
Comments
Posted by: I am so wise | September 3, 2008 7:47 AM
She's not a real christian. Real christian women remember that rebellious children who get themselves knocked up are stoned and that women before who have sex before marriage stoned.
Posted by: Steverino | September 3, 2008 7:47 AM
"McCain/Palin could still win this election, unbelievable as that may sound."
Oh, I think there is a much better chance of this happening than we think. The Right Wind machine is adept at tearing people down and causing doubt and fear among the voters. Not too mention, that selection of a (hypocritical) fundie like Palin will play to and motivate that ignorant White-Christian base.
Advantage, Republicans.
Posted by: Sigmund | September 3, 2008 7:55 AM
Its like Maude Flanders returned from the grave.
We're done-diddley-done-for!
Posted by: Kel | September 3, 2008 7:56 AM
Woah, insanity. If she's a heart attack away from being the most powerful man in the world, we're in a lot of trouble.
How McCain could have picked such a nutter over Lieberman is beyond me. He's a fool, a fool who panders to the biggest moron group on the planet! Though I guess if you are going to target gullible fools, target the ones who will submit to "God bless you"
Posted by: Stwriley | September 3, 2008 7:58 AM
Well, it might not be as bad as all that. For one thing, this is an Assemblies of God church, not exactly popular with the majority of Christians (especially the more moderate ones.) These people even scare other Christians; they're avowed theocrats (dominionists), they practice what's called "third wave" Christianity, and they think all other Christians aren't really Christian at all. The former mayor of Wasilla (that Palin beat in 1996) has publicly said that she ran against him on the slogan of "now we need a Christian as mayor", to which his response was "well, what does she think I am, a Muslim?"
That's the essence of the religion she's really a part of and I doubt that the far larger number of Christians who are not part of this very extreme sect are going to be attracted to her once they know what she is.
Posted by: Wowbagger | September 3, 2008 8:02 AM
Remember, Dubya won it - twice. Between the cluelessness of a sizable proportion of the US public and the dirty tricks of the rethugs I wouldn't consider anything impossible.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp, KoT | September 3, 2008 8:05 AM
Jesus fucking Christ. She sounds like a nitwit.
When is she going to blame the active hurricane season on the "Homos" and Sinners? Really that's next in the timeline of christo-crazy.
one. heartbeat. away.
Posted by: J | September 3, 2008 8:06 AM
Actually I don't see whats so horrible about this clip. Yes it's inane but it's basically just cutesy Jesus-talk. I'm surprised that PZ couldn't find anything more damning.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp, KoT | September 3, 2008 8:07 AM
She does have some Flandiddlyanders aspects to her.
Posted by: Nick Gotts | September 3, 2008 8:15 AM
If she's a heart attack away from being the most powerful man in the world, we're in a lot of trouble. - Kel
Hmm, I didn't realise a heart attack could cause a sex change - let alone a sex change in someone else!
Posted by: Philip1978 | September 3, 2008 8:15 AM
Gaaaaaaaahhhhh Noooooo!
Please America, I am but a humble English gent with a crap Prime Minister, don't let me down, vote Obama in for goodness sake! I like him, he seems competent enough, don't let those bloody idiots McCain and Palin win the election - I dread to think about having another Christian fundy in the White House! I mean, what if Palin turns Rapture Ready one day - we will never see the end of it... :)
Posted by: Mold | September 3, 2008 8:17 AM
She'll do what she's told. She submits to ToddMan in all things. The KKKristian Reich vetted her for McCain, all the issues that we keep learning about are inconsequential compared to her troo beleefs. How many Republican women of achievement were overlooked for whitetrash BobbyBarbie?
The hair, the speech, the jockhole hubby, the preggers (again!) daughter....all the signs and symptoms of crackerdom. And we are expected to be thrilled to have four more years of having to listen to stoopid. To allow lesser intellects having any say in our lives and persons.
Sorry. If someone is to be guiding this country, I want the candidate that surpasses me in IQ.
Posted by: Sigmund | September 3, 2008 8:17 AM
I worry that McCain's choice of Palin will attract away from Obama all the christian fundamentalist, pro-life, evolution denying, homo-hatin', NRA lovin', war-cheerin', flag-wavin' patriotic voters that are currently likely to vote for him.
So, that'll be about two votes less, I guess.
The big question is how will this play out with the middle ground independents. Clearly this is a cynical attempt to force the religious right to come out and vote as there has been some indications they were more likely to abstain this election. Even they realize McCain is not one of them. Will the likely boost in evangelicals voting be counteracted by independents who don't want a heart attack or stroke in a 72 year old suddenly landing them in a theocracy?
Posted by: Ed Darrell | September 3, 2008 8:28 AM
Seeing the church video, I immediately thought of Mark Twain's "The War Prayer." Alas, I'll wager McCain's never read it, and it would go over the heads of way too many voters.
http://thewarprayer.com/war_prayer.html
Posted by: Ed Darrell | September 3, 2008 8:31 AM
Hmmmm. Is there any tape of her talking about Rudolph Giuliani? Mitt Romney? We might at least get some entertainment out of it.
Posted by: jim | September 3, 2008 8:31 AM
I can't help but wonder if this isn't the deeply misogynistic Religious Right's attempt to scotch forever the chances of a female president by fielding one so unutterably awful as to put people off the idea once and for all.
Hey, don't knock it. It worked for Star Trek captains. (Some might say it worked for British prime ministers as well--but I couldn't possibly comment.)
Posted by: Ompompanoosuc | September 3, 2008 8:32 AM
Sigmund @ #4
lmao
From that fateful day when Maude met God:
Maude: I'm going to get some hotdogs.
Ned: No footlongs!
Maude: I know, they make you uncomfortable.
On a serious note, IMHO there is no longer any "cutesy" in any Jebus (or any other sky fairy) talk. I am going to have to put up a warning sign at the end of my driveway. Saturday I dropped the F bomb on some JW's. I'm not proud of that and my trophy wife wasn't impressed either. It was self defense, I thought their words were going to give me an aneurysm.
Pompy
Posted by: Pat | September 3, 2008 8:35 AM
Americans don't vote competence. But there's a thin line to tread now:
Vote John McCain! He's folksy but experienced. Not that experience means much, because his Vice Presidential running mate is gutsy. Because guts matter more - unless you're talking about George Bush's guts, because they were sometimes wrong. But not wrong enough to make him wrong or Republican thought wrong. It's called "the Right" for a reason.
Don't vote for a wet-behind-the-ears Illinois senator. Vote McCain/Whoagain?
Experience matters; unless it's ours.
Posted by: Kryth | September 3, 2008 8:38 AM
"Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace"
Is this a pipe dream?
Posted by: Davey | September 3, 2008 8:40 AM
Ouch, that voice. Screech Palin.
Posted by: 386sx | September 3, 2008 8:40 AM
I like waffles. I'm praying for waffles. Times are a changin for waffles. God bless waffles. Everybody pray over waffles. Outpouring of waffles please!
Posted by: Sleeping at the Console | September 3, 2008 8:46 AM
Bush won twice. Things are worse now than before... and people still are ready to vote for McCain. Perhaps this is because they can't make up their minds on who Obama really is; a sleeper terrorist, Satan or Osama's brother.
Posted by: Robin | September 3, 2008 8:50 AM
She has become quite popular around here (Central Illinois). I shudder when I think she has the potential to be in charge of the country. Her choice as VP clearly indicates McCain is no fool. He knows he can't win the presidency without the Religious Right, even Dobson says he can pull the lever for McCain now.
Posted by: 386sx | September 3, 2008 8:51 AM
I mean, what if Palin turns Rapture Ready one day - we will never see the end of it... :)
She's already rature ready. You can tell from the "praying over" and "outpouring" crapola. That's 100% genuine rapture type emptiness vacuum fundie talk.
Posted by: Another Primate | September 3, 2008 8:53 AM
Two words... "Fuck Tard"....
Posted by: Cronan | September 3, 2008 8:57 AM
But at least she's hot. Right? ;-)
Posted by: Nick Gotts | September 3, 2008 9:01 AM
The Assemblies of Gaaad are foul, but are they really that much worse than the Catholic Church (Obama's running mate's denomination)? Admittedly, the chances of Biden becoming President if Obama wins are much lower than those of Palin doing so if McCain does - assassination aside.
Posted by: 386sx | September 3, 2008 9:01 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assemblies_of_God
Look under "Sixteen Fundamental Truths" for sixteen of their non-negotiable idiotic beliefs.
Posted by: Matt Heath | September 3, 2008 9:04 AM
As a foreigner I WANT to ignore your election, but it's the best soap opera ever.
I'm particularly looking forward to the episode where Biden asks Palin "Do you consider secessionist movements like [some neo-Confederate racist group], [those guys that want the South West to be Mexican] and Alaskan Independence Party to be traitors?"
Posted by: Kel | September 3, 2008 9:05 AM
Palin is a guy in a girls body... and what a body too!Posted by: 386sx | September 3, 2008 9:05 AM
The Assemblies of Gaaad are foul, but are they really that much worse than the Catholic Church (Obama's running mate's denomination)?
Yeah but you don't think Biden actually belives all that crap do you? So naive!
Posted by: Jag | September 3, 2008 9:08 AM
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
H. L. Mencken
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | September 3, 2008 9:11 AM
Ever been to a Catholic church? Check out my detailed comments at Greg Laden's Blog. To Palin, God is just another item of policy. Catholic churches don't allow political speeches and blasphemies (certainty of being saved, certainty of what details of secular policy and economy are God's will...) within their walls.
(Well, maybe they do in America. What do I know.)
Posted by: Axis of Weasel | September 3, 2008 9:12 AM
God's will? Destiny? WTF -- Sieg Heil, y'all?
Posted by: Holbach | September 3, 2008 9:15 AM
I am surprised she did not admit that her god told us to invade Iraq. Now she invokes it's imaginary powers to protect her son from the enemie's god. And there is a good chance she will be with McCain in the white house and subject our country to a religious battering of which she is so well qualified. Scary.
Posted by: Bill Dauphin | September 3, 2008 9:17 AM
That's the hell of it: Some segment of the Larry-the-Cable-Guy crowd will vote for McSame because he picked a hottie for veep. Not that any of those guys would've voted for Obama anyway, of course, but some of them might not have voted at all.
Posted by: HazyD | September 3, 2008 9:19 AM
Gamerpolitics just picked up a story about Palin looking to ban books in a public, scary that she could be leading the country one day.
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/09/03/republican-vp-choice-sarah-palin-tried-ban-books
Posted by: Mystyk | September 3, 2008 9:22 AM
We really do need to come to terms with the fact that a sizable portion of this country wants to continue with the same kind of knuckleheads in power. The majority of these people fall on the not-so-favorable side of the IQ bell curve, but they still vote.
Palin has the ability to shore up votes in a segment that before this was going to sit out this election. They don't care that she's as strongly convert-or-die as Al Qaeda or the Taliban in her heart, because she's part of the same religion and citizenry as them.
The Republicans can't afford to do a last-minute switcheroo, so this is (for better or for worse) going to be their candidate. We need to point out continuously and loudly how out of touch she is with mainstream America (thanks for using my link, PZ). We need to show where her positions fail, such as "abstinence only sex ed" and her own damn daughter. And we absolutely need to remind them that if they attack a position of ours for some tangental reason then it's fair game to point out the same (I'm thinking Rev. Wright for one and the "family is off-limits" stuff for two).
This country can't afford one more year of these bastards, let alone four. Reality has a strong, known liberal bias and we need to use that in our favor. Obama may not be the best choice theoretically possible for true progressives, but he is electable, reasonably close to us in views, much closer to mainstream than the alternative, and I'd rather him by a long shot than any more time with the distinctly "regressives" running on the other ticket.
Posted by: Chris Nowak | September 3, 2008 9:23 AM
This makes me a sad panda :(
Posted by: Matt | September 3, 2008 9:24 AM
If McCain and this zealous nut-job get into the White House, I'm moving to Europe. Seriously. This religion madness has to stop.
Posted by: Curt Cameron | September 3, 2008 9:30 AM
I'm surprised someone thinks this video is even remarkable. It's standard Christian pap, a tad on the fundamentalist side. To me, it just sounds empty and cutesy. Are you folks here not familiar with the populace that makes up 80% of our country? Note that she was not making a political speech for general consumption, she was speaking to the folks in the room, which happened to be the church she was from. Any political candidate who is a devout Christian could have given this talk (with the exception of the Iraq war comment). I challenge you to find a single Christian who would say that this video portrays her in a negative light.
The objection that I have is "is she really stupid enough to believe all that Jesus crap?" But I realize that 80% of our country believes it too.
Posted by: Julian | September 3, 2008 9:33 AM
I think its hilarious that she asks the people there to pray for that pipeline then calls it god's will that it be built. Which is it; do we humans have control over it or is god the infallible and perfect going to make it happen? It's like these Christians aren't even trying to be consistent anymore or something!
Posted by: Bjorn Watland | September 3, 2008 9:38 AM
I echo the call to not underestimate Palin. If you can't understand where she is coming from, and where her supporters are, read The Psychopathology of The Republican by Richard Greene.
http://airamerica.com/clout/blog/2008/sep/02/psychopathology-republican
Posted by: Lago | September 3, 2008 9:42 AM
Ooh, gosh now, she is like a moron, isn't she like?
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | September 3, 2008 9:43 AM
Biden has an actual record from which people can judge his positions. Biden on Religion's Role in Public Life and Church-State IssuesPosted by: Curt Cameron | September 3, 2008 9:45 AM
I just re-listened to the Iraq war comment, and the sentence was clumsy, but with the extra clauses removed here's what she said:
"Pray that our leaders are sending soldiers out on a task that is from God."
Is that so bad?
Posted by: Julian | September 3, 2008 9:50 AM
If we all do our part, McCain ain't going to win. Pat Buchanan is for Obama now. Pat-mother-fucking-Buchanan. Boarder Fence Buchanan. Blacks are too dumb to take care of themselves Buchanan. White America must be preserved Buchanan. The Secessionists had a Point Buchanan. When Obama can win over someone like this, do you really think McCain has a shot?
I'll tell you why people will still vote for McCain. It isn't because they're stupid. It isn't because they believe. It's because they don't want to lose. Their whole lives they've been told "you're a Republican" and "The Democrats, our rivals, are capable of anything". Their whole lives politics has just been one big football game to them; the Eagles vs. the Jets in the form of Elephants vs. Donkeys. They'll vote McCain because in every other way in their lives they've been losers and they'll be damned if some successful black man who made his own way to greatness while they vegetated in Asscrack, Nebraska shows them up by becoming the President they never had the drive and discipline to be. The problem is, that ain't enough to get him elected. Obama's lead among people below 35 is vast, and they are energized and ready to get out there. Obama inspires loyalty and activity whereas McCain only inspires a grim holding-on, a voting by the skin of the teeth.
We shouldn't get cocky, and its good to have our eyes always on the other side, but lets not abandon hope just yet; lets not abandon hope when the polls are showing an ~10% lead for Obama (TPM Muckracker had them up yesterday), and when everyday sees more fiscal conservatives realizing they are going to, just this once, have to vote for a Democrat. We've been in this campaign for more than a year but I tell you now; this is only the beginning. We've got two months until the chickens get counted so lets not give up before the eggs are even laid.
Posted by: AJ Milne | September 3, 2008 9:53 AM
Lessee. Comes across as a total lightweight? Check. Oozes vapidity? Check. Evangelical-friendly? Check. That aw shucks just one of us smalltown folks thing? Check. Thinnish CV for the office in question? Check. Peppy/chipper/all-so-optimistic? Check. But kinda creepy when you really make eye contact? Check...
That's not a woman, baby. That's Dubya in drag.
Seriously, it scares me. I watched Americans somehow manage to elect that last dangerously vacuous loon two elections in a row, disbelieving both times, from the 'compassionate conservative' (honest) 2000 version to the 'war president/mission accomplished/stay the course/how do you wear a flight harness anyway' 2004 version. Apparently, there's a large enough segment that's just a huge sucker for that whole aw shucks routine, and I'm pretty sure that's a big part of the McCain campaign's calculations, here.
But fuck. Seriously. Don't go there, please don't do it, America. When you glance at her and think 'lightweight', as you're inevitably going to do, please reflect seriously on why that's probably going to be an incredibly bad thing. Just the same as it was last time.
Posted by: Bill Dauphin | September 3, 2008 9:54 AM
Depends on what you call "political." They certainly don't advocate for candidates (in my experience)... because that would be illegal for a tax-exempt church... but there's considerable overlap between politics and issues that are inherently important to church teaching (mostly around aspects of sexuality and reproduction, as you might imagine). You hear a lot about "respecting life" in church. At least, unlike their right-wing fellow travelers, Catholics are generally internally consistent in their "pro-life" position, in that along with abortion they oppose capital punishment and anything smacking of mercy killing.
Also unlike many of their right-wing protestant coreligionists, once you get past those pesky issues of sexuality and reproduction (IMHO, in the Catholic mind, "sexuality and reproduction" is a redundancy), Catholic social teaching is actually very progressive. (Jebus was a communist, after all!) If you think of government (as I do) as an extension of the will of the people, the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy reads like a liberal social civil agenda! I've often thought that if we could somehow drive a stake through the heart of the abortion issue, Catholics would be a natural base of support for Democrats and social progressives. Lot's of them vote (and run for office) that way anyway, of course, but if we could set abortion aside, I can't see why they all wouldn't.
Catholics, like most good progressives, believe that we are our brothers' keepers, unlike wingnuts who say "f*ck my brother, I got mine!"
Posted by: ck | September 3, 2008 9:55 AM
I agree with those who dissent from PZ's "terrifying" remark. The comment "task from God" in this context doesn't mean that we're on a holy jihad, but that those soldiers in the military have a responsibility to perform their jobs well. In Pentecostal-speak, everything is infused with divine purpose. From my experience, it becomes a meaningless verbal tic. In college (I went to Grove City College) many of the speak-in-tongues Pentecostals would use "Jesus" the way others use the word "like."
It's actually less scary to me than some of the theocratic folks who follow Rushdoony. Sure, she uses "Jesus" and "blessing" and "word" in ways that sound strange to the secular, but what she gave was basically a Christian version of a graduation pep talk (that seems to have been the occasion).
I did think it was funny, though, how she pointed out that the Christians there "looked cool" and people would be interested in Jesus "just because of how you look." Um, yeah, just like Michael W Smith gave George Michael a run for his money in the nineties. (Okay, so he did perform well, but where is he today?)
Posted by: CalGeorge | September 3, 2008 9:56 AM
Spread the word: she is a book banner!
People for the American Way:
"People can disagree about a lot of things, but censorship is completely beyond the pale. Our democracy was founded on the belief that government shouldn't tell people what kinds of books to read or what kind of beliefs to hold. No one with that kind of history should be anywhere near the White House. Sarah Palin needs to clarify her stance on freedom of speech immediately, and John McCain needs to explain why he chose a running mate with so little regard for the Constitution."
http://site.pfaw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_2008_09_people_for_response_to_revelations
Completely unacceptable. No matter how amusing she is for the Democrats, she has to go.
Posted by: Lilly de Lure | September 3, 2008 10:00 AM
Mystyk said:
I agree and that's the really scary thing. If the republicans do pull this off and win the election it will, to a very large extent, be down to the Evangelicals who are leery of voting for McCain but are quite willing to come out in favour of Palin.
If this happens then the old-style republicans won't be able to just drag her out to rally the faithful for elections and then ignore her the rest of the time the way republicans have traditionally done with the fundies because she and her voters are the only reason they'll be in the White House at all! If they try and get rid of her or ignore her she can have them out of the White House again with one snap of her fingers. She and the rightwing nutjobs she represents will be in a position of unprecedented power and if he thinks that they're going to be happy with the occasional bone thrown their way the way they have with previous republican administrations then he really is a fool.
McCain may think he's played things smart by hiring a religious wacko as his sidekick, but if he does win I've a horrible feeling he'll find out that he's the one being used as the puppet, not her.
Posted by: Shinobi | September 3, 2008 10:02 AM
I had to stop watching when she said "I got saved here." Gag.
Posted by: Northern Virginia | September 3, 2008 10:03 AM
For anyone who thinks Sarah Palin is a joke, I have two words for you: Ronald Reagan.
Posted by: Margaret Nelson | September 3, 2008 10:06 AM
On this side of the Atlantic, some of us watch with mounting alarm. Can this be real? What's especially galling is that a substantial proportion of Clinton supporters (they like to think they're "feminists") will switch parties and vote Republican, just because there's a woman on the ballot paper. I despair!
Posted by: whateverman | September 3, 2008 10:10 AM
Severino (#2):
I have to agree; the election is by no means a shoe-in for Obama.
In some respects, though, I think I want to see these two candidates fight for the office. I tend to be more of a moderate/centrist than leaning liberal or conservative, demo or repub. Right now, I really think this country needs Obama much more than his opponent - but I still want them both to explain loudly why they deserve the position.
I'm guessing that anti-liberal sentiment is what motivates most McCain supporters. These are the same people who repeatedly referred to G Dubya Bush as "the lesser of 2 evils" - they brought him into office, and are threatening to help maintain the conservative ideology. The neo cons put us into Iraq, and I'm loathe to do anything to even remotely support them.
To keep this on topic, Palin is definitely interesting. I guess I don't have a problem with a Christian being in office, but I sure wish she wasn't making me feel like she'd bring Christian values into office.
Posted by: Julian | September 3, 2008 10:12 AM
Besides, if you want to be frightened by her religious connections, search for Joel's Army. She believes in things much nuttier than the above vid.
Posted by: AJ Milne | September 3, 2008 10:15 AM
For anyone who thinks Sarah Palin is a joke, I have two words for you: Ronald Reagan.
Yep. Amiable but vapid. Elect that puppy. She's one of us. Looks like the kinda person I'd have a beer with. Let's do this thing.
It's a bad sign, a sign of the ongoing collapse of the political system of a major democracy in the age of PR. That process is now so owned by the spinmeisters and the media so prone to their sleight of hand the GOP especially no longer looks for thoughtful and intelligent representatives so much as malleable, camera-friendly mascots who happen to project that tried and true aw shucks persona... This has been more or less the strategy for Reagan and Bush Jr... So let's try it again, why not.
By 2016, I figure they'll probably just go all the way, nominate some popular sports team's plush mascot or a nice, non-threatening cartoon character with a flag pinned to its lapel. Gumby for president. Look. He's smiling. Must be a nice guy.
Posted by: negentropyeater | September 3, 2008 10:30 AM
This is what Sarah-nutcase says :
So guess how our "national leader" (Bush) found out if this was a task from God ? He must have prayed very much and God told him to invade Iraq.
And this video is not from 2003, but from June 2008 !
The more I learn about Palin, the more it seems as if she could potentially make an even worse president of the USA than G.W.Bush (who thought it would have been possible ?).
She's more extreme religionut, ultra-conservative, utterly clueless about the world outside of her little state of Alaska, than G.W.Bush was.
Posted by: Jason | September 3, 2008 10:33 AM
What the hell is McCain doing making this woman his VP choice. This whole election he's been going on about how the world is full of evil freedom hating terrorists who will do anything to enslave and destroy America; and that he is the only man capable of stopping them and saving you... but if anything happens to him this nice (crazy) hockey mom can handle it?
Jackass.
Posted by: Matt Heath | September 3, 2008 10:36 AM
#2
Well, there's good reason to think intrade gives this best available estimate of the chances (because it would make anyone with better system of judging the odds rich).
It's been hovering around 60/40 Obama/McCain for months. So it's pretty open.
Posted by: Phaedrus | September 3, 2008 10:39 AM
Hooooweeee.... you Americans are in deeper trouble than I thought. That anyone would vote for this froot loop.
Posted by: Stwriley | September 3, 2008 10:42 AM
Ompompanoosuc @ #17
I know it's usually quite a disturbance to one's wa to have to eject religious nuts from the property, but occasionally it can be very amusing. A case in point is my own encounter with JW's many years ago.
Normally, of course, I politely but firmly refuse them on the (now rare) occasions they show up, and the ones around here take that at face value and don't try to push (i.e., they're polite too) but at an old house of ours the situation was rather different; it was a much poorer neighborhood, more JW presence, and it was still a time when the old door-to-door evangelizing was still preferred.
My brother came to visit one week, and since he was sleeping in the front, when the JW's first rang our bell on a Saturday morning he was the one to answer and (purely as a prank, he's an inveterate practical joker) he made like he was interested and took a Watchtower but told them he had to go to work to get rid of them before we woke up.
Of course, that's like chumming the water for sharks; they figured they'd actually got one and kept coming back, week after week. At first (when they rang my bell at 8:30 on a Saturday) I politely told them that the person they were looking for had only been visiting and wasn't going to be there again (a bit of an exaggeration, but I did want them to go away) but they didn't take the hint. By the fourth week, I was yelling at them to go away and never come back, but that too was ineffective.
Finally, I'd simply had enough. One the sixth week of this nonsense, I didn't even bother to throw on a robe when I got up and answered the door with my waist-length hair flying, buck-naked, and reciting the Lord's Prayer (which JW's particularly revere) backwards. They literally ran from me and they never came back to that house again while we were there.
While we may decry it's usual applications, shock and awe does have it's place (well, shock anyway.)
Posted by: negentropyeater | September 3, 2008 10:42 AM
Sorry, but if Sarah Palin were to become POTUS, it's not only Americans who'd be in deep trouble.
Posted by: clinteas | September 3, 2008 10:49 AM
Lilly said @ 52:
// McCain may think he's played things smart by hiring a religious wacko as his sidekick, but if he does win I've a horrible feeling he'll find out that he's the one being used as the puppet, not her.//
I think that is an excellent assessment,and I think it might even be thus if he does win.
Seriously,I firmly believe that this election is pretty much make or break for mankind,if we end up in political apathy with McSame,or a theocracy if he falls over dead,in either case the world will suffer greatly.
But if McCain/Palin get elected,then the american public will have voted them in(unless theres major vote rigging of course),and I guess it will just be evolution in progress in a way.Im reading "Collapse" as we speak.
Posted by: Cynthia | September 3, 2008 10:52 AM
I'm having a really hard time believing that Sarah Palin is a real honest-to-god prolifer... After all, no woman who lives and dies by the pro-life creed would ever endanger the life of her unborn child by having an amniocentesis and especially by hopping on a plane after her water breaks!
Oh sure, both of these actions carry a small risk for a miscarriage, but these risks are statistically significant nonetheless.
And sorry, but the argument that Palin had an amniocentesis in order to better plan her unborn child's future just doesn't hold water. Any sort of family planning measure, especially amniocentesis, flies in the face of pro-life thinking!
Posted by: Tim H | September 3, 2008 10:52 AM
Do you think we could be so lucky as to be treated to a speaking-in-tongues moment during prime time tonight?
Posted by: Paul Phoenix | September 3, 2008 10:53 AM
I thought the evangelicals believed all that stuff st paul wrote about not allowing women to have authority over men??
Posted by: Kseniya | September 3, 2008 10:55 AM
Please. Make it stop. I'm too young to have my spirit broken.
Posted by: Cynthia | September 3, 2008 10:57 AM
And it strikes me as grossly hypocritical that Palin, as a staunch pro-lifer, wants to keep her daughter's pregnancy a private matter, but at the same time, she wants to make the reproductive lives of all women a public matter!!!
Posted by: Jason Dick | September 3, 2008 11:05 AM
Oh, man, flashbacks to my youth. She reminded me so strongly of a bunch of shit I bought into in my younger, more brainwashed days. So, so glad that I'm out of all of that now, and this little speech just reinforced ever more strongly how much I do not want to see her in the White House.
Oh, and am I the only one that giggled at her comment, "Alaska is all over the world map right now"? Because, Palin, it's not really. It's still right where it's always been.
Posted by: negentropyeater | September 3, 2008 11:07 AM
Curt #41,
But that's a very important exception ! Especially taking into account the fact that this speech was made in... June 2008. I don't think even G.W.Bush could make that comment.
Posted by: clinteas | September 3, 2008 11:09 AM
@ Cynthia No 70,
yes it is hypocritical,and all this information is out there for voters,if they only cared.
The issue is,the american public does not seem to care,and there is a frighteningly real chance they will vote her and McCain into the Oval Office.Which is just unbelievable really,if you think about it.
Posted by: raven | September 3, 2008 11:15 AM
The available data says McCain/Palin have a good chance of winning. The data:
1. The US has a recent trend of scouring the land for the worst available candidates....and then electing them. And reelecting them. (This isn't a joke, think about it, it is true.)
2. Studies have shown that people elect people like them. The median IQ is 100 and most people are middle class. People won't elect intelligent people like professors, MDs, scientists, etc.. Bill Clinton's genius was to come out of nowheresville and appear to be an overeducated cracker from Arkansas while, in fact, being very, very smart.
3. Every civilization and empire in the history of the world has ended. In my lifetime, the British and Soviets collapsed. It just might be our turn. They get overextended militarily like the Soviets and Romans. They elect incompetent leaders, it is said that Russia is resurging because Putin is one of their few leaders in decades that isn't alcoholic or way too old.
OTOH, maybe not. There is a backlash against fundie Death Cultists. Whether it is significant or not is to be seen.
The fact that anyone thinks someone barely above white trash who thinks the earth is 6,000 years old and would torture her own daughter is indicative that something is drastically wrong in the USA. We may end up living in the ruins of our civilization while a few critics say, "I told you so."
I've worried about this for so long I'm just about burned out. If McCain/Palin get elected, wave good bye to the USA as we knew it. Anyone can survive a hit, repeated hits are eventually fatal. Stockpile wine and snacks and frequently raise a glass to the world's former and last superpower.
Posted by: Lilly de Lure | September 3, 2008 11:18 AM
Jason said:
If you are really so sure that the idea of a hometown, honest-to-goodness mother with pluck and principles battling it out with the forces of evil (note I say idea - I don't believe for one second that this is an accurate view of Palin but it is how they're spinning her) isn't going to fly with an electorate you really should google "Margaret Thatcher".
*Shudders at Memories*
Posted by: Kseniya | September 3, 2008 11:18 AM
"Inconceivable!"
John Kerry was leading Bush, the incumbent, in the polls four summers ago.
Posted by: Mary | September 3, 2008 11:22 AM
I'm readying my house to get it on the market the moment McCain is elected *shudder*. We are looking into moving to Europe if anyone has any recommendations on the best places to live over there :)
I really can't take the stupidity in this country anymore and I have very litle faith in the American people that they will vote for Obama.
Posted by: marc | September 3, 2008 11:26 AM
Over the past 8 years, I have always stated the optimistic prediction to others while maintain an internal pessimism. With the exception of a very minor victory in 2006 (so minor, in fact, that no noticable changes occurred), my instinct has proven correct. You may take the various polls at face value, but remember that the polls looked quite favorable for Kerry in 2004. All it takes is a little thumb on the scale, and there you have it.
The right has not yet begun to smear. McCain will win by a narrow margin and the runner-up Miss Alaska will put a pretty face to right-wing fundamentalism.
I blame the DNC (the Generals to the RNC's Globetrotters) mostly, but a share of the blame goes both to Obama True Believers and Hillary True Believers who allowed themselves to be manipulated by the right-wing-owned media.
Posted by: negentropyeater | September 3, 2008 11:31 AM
Curt #46,
ck #50,
This is what she says :
So I don't think she's just saying that soldiers need to perform their jobs well !
But, there's every indication that she thinks of the Iraq war as a just war, cautionned by God, part of God's plan, and that our current leaders are somehow capable of discerning that plan.
And you don't see anything particularly crazy and dangerous in this for a potential POTUS in charge of the largest nuclear arsenal on the planet ?
Posted by: raven | September 3, 2008 11:33 AM
Yes by a long ways. There is a huge gulf between the celibate old man clergy and the members. The RCC is the ultimate, pragmatic don't ask, don't tell organization. The priests say one thing, everyone ignores them and no one gets worked up about it. If the RCC kicked out all catholics who didn't follow all their dogma, they wouldn't have anyone left and no one would be tossing money in the plate. At 23% of the population, catholics en masse approach the US norm.
Posted by: Colugo | September 3, 2008 11:35 AM
Odds are low indeed that McCain-Palin will beat Obama-Biden. And a lot depends on her appearance at the RNC tonight and the coming weeks. But here's an interesting comment from an Alaskan observer to Christopher Orr.
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/09/02/the-case-against-the-case-against-palin.aspx
"Watching Palin operate over the past few years has been like witnessing a dramatic reading of All the King's Men...
What the Republicans missed about Sarah Palin then-and what the Democrats seem poised to miss now-is that she is a true political savant; a candidate with a knack for identifying the key gripes of the populace and packaging herself as the solution. That keen political nose has enabled her to routinely outperform her resume. Nearly two years into her administration, she still racks up approval ratings of 80 per cent or better ...
(I)t would behoove the Democrats and the pundits to shed the notion that they are dealing with some dimwitted bumpkin ... or that Palin is the towni