Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Those darned questions


I try not to fly off the handle when one of the political candidates says something that's absolute bull crap, and I realize that all of them try to blow smoke up our skirts or trousers on a daily basis, but I had to laugh at the scrambling Sarah Palin, and McCain, did after Palin made a statement that seemingly ran counter to McCain's position on Pakistan. Last Friday night, McCain chided Barack Obama during their first debate for his statements that he would attack inside Pakistan, if necessary, to strike significant terrorist targets (the same thing President Bush already has done, by the way). Then, the next day, Palin was meeting with voters in Philly, and one of them shouted a question to her asking what she and McCain would do about Pakistan, which has been accused of harboring, or even supporting, terrorists in its border area with Afghanistan. Replied Palin, "If that (an attack inside Pakistan) is what we have to do to stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should." Well, by Monday, in an interview with "CBS Evening News," Palin, accompanied by McCain, said she was replying to a "gotcha" question from a voter. McCain added that it's the "day and age of 'gotcha' journalism. ... In a conversation with someone who you didn't hear the question very well, you don't know the context of the conversation. Grab a phrase." Or, stumble around trying to explain something that really doesn't require explanation. Palin got a very basic, simple question about terrorism and foreign policy. She gave a simple, concise answer. There's no need to apologize for giving your honest opinion about something. It's already been made clear that McCain and Palin have differences of opinion on issues such as abortion and oil drilling. Is it really that big a deal that they're not in lockstep on the campaign trail on another issue? Of course, the media did jump on the apparent split in their opinions, but to blame her comments on a "gotcha" question makes it look worse.

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11 Comments:

Blogger Ellipses said...

Palin (and to a lesser extent, mccain) have had AMPLE opportunity to make themselves look good in light of these "gotcha" moments... here are two examples:

Charlie Gibson asks Palin if she thinks Georgia should be in NATO...
She says yes...
Gibson (gotcha!) says that NATO membership would have obligated the US to go to war with Russia...
Crickets chirping...

She had an OBVIOUS chance to look awesome right there... She could have used the argument that Russia moved aggressively on Georgia BECAUSE they weren't in NATO... if they had, and the obligation of retaliation by the US was on the table, they wouldn't have moved on Georgia. However, since they weren't a NATO member, retaliation would have been by choice, and that choice would have been politically unpopular. Therefore, Georgia should have been in NATO, and should be in NATO to prevent future aggression by Russia.

On the Pakistan thing... Obama is saying that he will put people into his cabinet that disagree with him so that he is not surrounded by yes men... McCain could have touted Palin as a different opinion to make his ticket look well rounded. However, he babbled on about Gotcha and mishearing the question and context and Oh, she didn't mean THAT...

You gotta hit the softballs, guys!

-ellipses

October 1, 2008 at 1:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I find it interesting, though, that Biden has stuck his foot in his mouth in similar ways in the past couple of weeks and then backtracked, but there's little commentary on that.

October 2, 2008 at 12:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Biden, as well as all politicians, stick their feet in their mouths. It's just par for the course. We know much about Biden, McCain, Obama, Clinton, Bush, etc. and can easily state many of their public bloopers. Palin is different. Because the American public truly doesn't know anything about Palin and she deliberately does not do interviews, we are left to develop our opinions based solely on her limited appearances. There are way too many blunders and they are doozies. This person could be leader of our country in just a matter of months?!?! The media and public is far too easy on the her. Other politician's have been dissected and scrutinized to "n"th degree and still shine with knowledge and brilliance. Expectations are so low for tonight's VP debate that Palin can conceivably do well if she can simply keep the crickets from chirping when she pauses.

October 2, 2008 at 9:02 AM  
Blogger Greg said...

Why should expectations be so low? Sarah Palin and Joe Biden are running for the second most powerful position in the world. Shouldn't expectations be a little high. I know that both candidates are able to breathe. What else?

October 2, 2008 at 9:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's been 34 years since a Veep took over for a Prez, and we seem to have forgotten just how important the Veep can be. Maybe it's because we have had lackluster Veep nomineess for several year. I think most voters, even if they hated Bush, kept their fingers crossed that he wouldn't die or be assassinated because we'd have had Cheney running the country. I certainly don't want someone next in line who can't even name the magazines she reads.

October 2, 2008 at 3:24 PM  
Blogger Ellipses said...

It's not that she can't (ok, maybe it is)... it's that even she realizes how retarded it would sound if she said:

Creationism Weekly
The Bible
The Flip Side (sorry O-R)
Highlights
and the Bible again

-ellipses... I kid the governor :-)

October 2, 2008 at 3:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the above post meant to say that expectations for Palin are so low that if she simply appears to hold it together she will win. I'm republican and feel she was such an irresponsible choice for VP candidate.

October 2, 2008 at 4:48 PM  
Blogger miss bess said...

ellipses,

Ahem...Flipside staff writers have covered topics including Darfur, abortion protests, local community activists, multiculturalism in Washington and, in November's coming edition, how youth deal with recession. We also may cover topics like Halloween fun and summer break, but Flipside certainly can't be compared to Goofus and Gallant.

October 2, 2008 at 6:07 PM  
Blogger Ellipses said...

I stand corrected.

October 2, 2008 at 7:23 PM  
Blogger Dale Lolley said...

Geez, Nancy Pelosi is third in line for the presidency. Should we talk about that possibility as well?
I know that scares the bejeezus out of me.

October 2, 2008 at 8:32 PM  
Blogger Ellipses said...

I don't like that gal either Dale...

We probably would be talking about that, though, if Palin was in her 70's and was in remission from cancer...

-ellipses

October 2, 2008 at 8:53 PM  

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