Monday, September 01, 2008

Inside Sarah Palin

This information has been sent to me by several friends. I realize I am mostly preaching to the choir here, but this is interesting nonetheless:

Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

* She was elected Alaska 's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1
* Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3
* Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
* She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
* She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
* How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7


Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-9709318-l2vSccx&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-9709318-l2vSccx&t=2

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-9709318-l2vSccx&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-9709318-l2vSccx&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-9709318-l2vSccx&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-9709318-l2vSccx&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-9709318-l2vSccx&t=7

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-9709318-l2vSccx&t=8

This information was compiled by Moveon.org.

7 comments:

dmarks said...

Sorry I missed your tag before.

Palin is pro-Buchanan? I was just reading about Buchanan's recent pro-Hitler book. Wow... I mean, wow..

Also, Palin is not "anti-choice" any more than Obama is "anti-life". She opposes abortion, and is "anti-abortion". That's the most accurate way to put it.

Anonymous said...

There has been discussion here that Palin is actually Tina Fey's evil twin sister!

Anonymous said...

I caught part of Brian Williams's interview of McCain, where Williams asked how Palin's selection doesn't entirely negate McCain's "Obama is too inexperienced to be President" argument. McCain, who I now believe to be suffering from dementia, claimed that Palin is more experienced and qualified than Obama and cited in support of this claim her tenure as President of the PTA. I'm not sure what happened next, as I was on the floor convulsed in laughter.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps it is the teacher in me coming out, but these are not what I'd call "scholarly" resources. Wikipedia?

Unknown said...

You are absolutely correct, Monkey Dearest, but I did check a few of the sites and they seemed legit. Unfortunately since I'm back at work I didn't have time to look through them all. I am a poor journalist.
;-)

Anonymous said...

Do not fear monkey, I saw the exact same list in the Palm Beach Post. Unfortunately my hard copy is gone and I can't seem to find it on the Post website. I do know it was there as I read it aloud to a group of people. Wiki is not the source of the information.
Hope the PB Post is a reliable source for you.

Anonymous said...

Politics in this country is getting scarier than ever!