Sam Harris on Sarah Palin

[_dartagnan]

Trev has time for Tom Foolery, but none to spare for actual reearch. What a shocker.

[_dartagnan]

Maybe when their constituents have had time to decide whether or not they were worth a damn? Can anyone say re-election? Second term? It would be hard to judge fairly the impact her governance had on things like the economy when she hardly made a dent in her governor's chair.

Ah, so the goal posts continue to be moved back another twenty yards.

In other words, since she hadn't even reached the half-way mark of her first term, it is difficult to judge her "track record" in her job.

Only if you choose willfull ignorance over education.

Frankly, I am surprised that you are satisfied with such little evidence.

This coming from someone who hasn't even read the evidence.

This is why it is so pointless to debate people who refuse to educate themselves on the subject. Trevor comes to me for facts about basic issues and then he wants to insist I'm wrong as if he's in such a position to do so, after he already exposed his own ignorance. As a perfect example above, Trevor seems completely oblivious to the fact that Palin's approval rating was ridiculously high. But Trev still finds it "difficult" to see how she could be viewed as a successful politician whose constituents approved of her. To suggest she might not be reelected is to illustrate more ignorance than we can shake a stick at. Alaskan's absolutely love her.

The following was written long before anyone thought she would be the VP pick:

July 17, 2007

Juneau

The wipeout in the 2006 election left Republicans in such a state of dejection that they've overlooked the one shining victory in which a Republican star was born. The triumph came in Alaska where Sarah Palin, a politician of eye-popping integrity, was elected governor. She is now the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating in the 90s, and probably the most popular public official in any state.

Her rise is a great (and rare) story of how adherence to principle--especially to transparency and accountability in government--can produce political success. And by the way, Palin is a conservative who only last month vetoed 13 percent of the state's proposed budget for capital projects. The cuts, the Anchorage Daily News said, "may be the biggest single-year line-item veto total in state history."

As recently as last year, Palin (pronounced pale-in) was a political outcast. She resigned in January 2004 as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission after complaining to the office of Governor Frank Murkowski and to state Attorney General Gregg Renkes about ethical violations by another commissioner, Randy Ruedrich, who was also Republican state chairman.

State law barred Palin from speaking out publicly about ethical violations and corruption. But she was vindicated later in 2004 when Ruedrich, who'd been reconfirmed as state chairman, agreed to pay a $12,000 fine for breaking state ethics laws. She became a hero in the eyes of the public and the press, and the bane of Republican leaders.

In 2005, she continued to take on the Republican establishment by joining Eric Croft, a Democrat, in lodging an ethics complaint against Renkes, who was not only attorney general but also a long-time adviser and campaign manager for Murkowski. The governor reprimanded Renkes and said the case was closed. It wasn't. Renkes resigned a few weeks later, and Palin was again hailed as a hero.

Palin, 43, the mother of four, passed up a chance to challenge Republican senator Lisa Murkowski, the then-governor's daughter, in 2004. She endorsed another candidate in the primary, but Murkowski won and was reelected. Palin said then that her 14-year-old son talked her out of running, though it's doubtful that was the sole reason.

In 2006, she didn't hesitate. She ran against Gov. Murkowski, who was seeking a second term despite sagging poll ratings, in the Republican primary. In a three-way race, Palin captured 51 percent and won in a landslide. She defeated former Democratic governor Tony Knowles in the general election, 49 percent to 41 percent. She was one of the few Republicans anywhere in the country to perform above expectations in 2006, an overwhelmingly Democratic year. Palin is unabashedly pro life.

With her emphasis on ethics and openness in government, "it turned out Palin caught the temper of the times perfectly," wrote Tom Kizzia of the Anchorage Daily News. She was also lucky. News broke of an FBI investigation of corruption by legislators between the primary and general elections. So far, three legislators have been indicted.

In the roughly three years since she quit as the state's chief regulator of the oil industry, Palin has crushed the Republican hierarchy (virtually all male) and nearly every other foe or critic. Political analysts in Alaska refer to the "body count" of Palin's rivals. "The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who crossed Sarah," says pollster Dave Dittman, who worked for her gubernatorial campaign. It includes Ruedrich, Renkes, Murkowski, gubernatorial contenders John Binkley and Andrew Halcro, the three big oil companies in Alaska, and a section of the Daily News called "Voice of the Times," which was highly critical of Palin and is now defunct.

One of her first acts as governor was to fire the Alaska Board of Agriculture. Her ultimate target was the state Creamery Board, which has been marketing the products of Alaska dairy farmers for 71 years and wanted to close down after receiving $600,000 from the state. "You don't just close your doors and walk away," Palin told me. She discovered she lacked the power to fire the Creamery Board. Only the board of agriculture had that authority. So Palin replaced the agriculture board, which appointed a new creamery board, which has rescinded the plan to shut down.

In preserving support for dairy farmers, Palin exhibited a kind of Alaskan chauvinism. She came to the state as an infant, making her practically a native. And she is eager to keep Alaska free from domination by oil companies or from reliance on cruise lines whose ships bring thousands of tourists to the state.

"She's as Alaskan as you can get," says Dan Fagan, an Anchorage radio talk show host. "She's a hockey mom, she lives on a lake, she ice fishes, she snowmobiles, she hunts, she's an NRA member, she has a float plane, and her husband works for BP on the North Slope," Fagan says. Todd Palin, her high school sweetheart, is a three-time winner of the 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmobile race from Wasilla to Nome to Fairbanks. It's the world's longest snowmobile race.

Gov. Palin grew up in Wasilla, where as star of her high school basketball team she got the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" for her fierce competitiveness. She led her underdog team to the state basketball championship. Palin also won the Miss Wasilla beauty contest, in which she was named Miss Congeniality, and went on to compete in the Miss Alaska pageant.

At 32, she was elected mayor of Wasilla, a burgeoning bedroom community outside Anchorage. Though Alaskans tend to be ferociously anti-tax, she persuaded Wasilla voters to increase the local sales tax to pay for an indoor arena and convention center. The tax referendum won by 20 votes.

In 2002, Palin entered statewide politics, running for lieutenant governor. She finished a strong second in the Republican primary. That fall, she dutifully campaigned for Murkowski, who'd given up his Senate seat to run for governor. Afterwards, she turned down several job offers from Murkowski, finally accepting the oil and gas post. When she quit 11 months later, "that was her defining moment" in politics, says Fagan.

Her campaign for governor was bumpy. She missed enough campaign appearances to be tagged "No Show Sarah" by her opponents. She was criticized for being vague on issues. But she sold voters on the one product that mattered: herself.

Her Christian faith--Palin grew up attending nondenominational Bible churches--was a minor issue in the race. She told me her faith affects her politics this way: "I believe everything happens for a purpose. In my own personal life, if I dedicated back to my Creator what I'm trying to create for the good . . . everything will turn out fine." That same concept applies to her political career, she suggested.

The biggest issue in the campaign was the proposed natural gas pipeline from the North Slope that's crucial to the state's economy. Murkowski had made a deal with the three big oil companies--Exxon, BP, ConocoPhillips--which own the gas reserves to build the pipeline. But the legislature turned it down and Palin promised to create competition for the pipeline contract.

She made three other promises: to end corruption in state government, cut spending, and provide accountability. She's now redeeming those promises.

Palin describes herself as "pro-business and pro-development." She doesn't want the oil companies to sit on their energy reserves or environmental groups to block development of the state's resources. "I get frustrated with folks from outside Alaska who come up and say you shouldn't develop your resources," she says. Alaska needs to be self-sufficient, she says, instead of relying heavily on "federal dollars," as the state does today.

Her first major achievement as governor was lopsided passage by the legislature of the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, which is designed to attract pipeline proposals this summer. The state is offering $500 million in incentives, but the developer must meet strict requirements. The oil companies have said they won't join the competition.

Palin's tough spending cuts drew criticism from Republican legislators whose pet projects were vetoed. But her popularity doesn't appear threatened. "It's not just that she's pretty and young," says Dittman. "She's really smart. And there's no guile. She says her favorite meal is moose stew or mooseburgers. It wouldn't shock people if that were true."

Fred Barnes is executive editor of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

Out of curiosity, is there anything remotely similar that applauds Obama's success as a successful politician? All I see are articles congratulating him because he was the first black man to do this and that.

And do we need to point out that Obama actually went against his own claim and didn't finish his first term?

Ok... back to work.

[_Trevor]

Trev has time for Tom Foolery, but none to spare for actual reearch. What a shocker.

Kevin knows how to parrot conservative pundits and the campaign of his choice for the White House. BFD.

I notice that you have been conveniently silent on a number of things I said. Maybe it's because you don't have much to say about it. Talk about a shocker.

[_Jason Bourne]

Reuters/Zogby: "Half of all voters said the economy was the top issue, and the poll showed McCain narrowly led Obama on the question of which candidate could best manage the economy by 47 percent to 45 percent. But that was a significant gain for Obama from McCain's 9-point advantage last month. The poll was taken before Sunday's upheaval on Wall Street with the fall of Lehman Brothers Holding and the sale of Merrill Lynch."

Gallup: "In the Sept. 5-7 USA Today/Gallup poll, 48% of Americans say Barack Obama can better handle the economy, while 45% choose John McCain. This marks a significant gain by McCain; just before the Democratic National Convention in late August, Obama had a 16-point margin over McCain on the economy."

What a bunch of Marxists!

Why do you say that Dart?

[_Trevor]

Ah, so the goal posts continue to be moved back another twenty yards.

Kevin is again eager to oversimplify and misrepresent. There are only so many things he can fit in.

Kevin's evidence is an approval rating in the first half of her term. We have no way of knowing, of course, whether that will hold, or whether her budget choices will work out in the long run. It is enough for Kevin that she did things he liked now and that many people in Alaska approve for the time being. If I should suggest that we wait until she has been reelected to an office more weighty than mayor to a village before we assess (Alaska and the nation) whether she is a success, then I am an unreasonable ignoramus who is forever "moving the goal posts." All the while he is unwilling to direct his rebuttals to the real arguments I was making, which were entirely reasonable.

An old man, who has had significant health problems, has chosen a lightweight to be his number two for the most important position in the world. Not only does this show questionable judgment, but if the man does get elected and dies, we will be stuck with his "maverick" experiment. Let him run his maverick stunts elsewhere, I say. We need soberness and responsibility, not people who sacrifice good sense to live up to their own campaign rhetoric. The McCain campaign at this point is little more than bad theater.

[_dartagnan]

Why do you say that Dart?

Read the post by Analytics and you'll understand what I was referring to. Analytics doesn't understand what the word "run" means. He said governors do not run (i.e. "manage") the economy, and I am the only conservative to take a "Marxist" position.

Trevor, I'm at work, and will get to rant soon enough. But don't pretend you've said anything of substance.

Here is another great example of our integrity free democrat candidate, who braggeed in the debate that he "has a bracelet too." Turns out the family asked Obama several times to stop wearing it. LOL! You can't make this stuff up.

So what was more important to Obama at this point, the wishes of the family of an opportune moment to further his ambition? It is nothing short of disgusting to use his death to serve his own agenda especially when the family doesn't support Obama's position!

And where is the media on this?

They're still digging through Palin's laundry.

[_Jason Bourne]

Look, I never said she was the best pick. But two rich white men wouldn't stand a chance against Obama.

I have to agree that for whatever reason Palin has jazzed up the ticket and brought more around to McCain. So that has worked in McCain's favor. However, it seems some republican conservatives are becoming a bit disillusioned as can be seen in the thread in off topic that Trevor started.

Besides, Romney bad mouthed McCain too much. It would be disingenuous to pick him for the same reason it was stupid for Obama to pick Biden. Biden just recently told the nation on live television that Obama wasn't ready to lead. I mean really, this has to be the worst tandem in political history.

Well yea but this happens all the time. Bush 1 gave Reagan the nasties-voodoo economics and all that yet still ran and Johnson and Kennedy were not friends. Politics maked strange bed fellows as we can see.

That wouldn't hurt, but McCain is just living up to his reputation as a maverick.

Perhaps but it also tends to wonder how prudent the man is. Maverick is nice but at 72 he really should be picking someone ready on day 1.

No sense in moaning about it and acting liek we allk know for a fact that Palin couldn't turn the US economy around like she did Alaska's. Comparing Wasilla's economy to Alaska's is similar to comparing Alaska's to the US economy. There was no reason to believe she could turn Alask araound either, but she did. And in record time too. That's what we need. It is her economic philosophy that makes the difference, not where she went to school. Obama had a huge plan for spending hundreds of billions,a nd now all of that was turned on its head because of the recent bail outs. Now he has to go back to the drawing board and conjure up another "plan" and sell it to people who are easily convinced by eloquent speech.

Palin seems like a fiscal conservative but mostly right now she is parroting McCain's line which of course she should be doing.

He's more comfortable speaking in public, that's about it it seems. Since when does that make or break a President? It is a luxury not a necessity.

Yea but let me tell you something. I remember the first time I heard Presidene Bush speak. I had read about him and how he was the rising star and then I heard him speak and it was almost enough to convince me not to vote for him. He just seemed well, dumb! But I still voted for him, twice!!!! So the ability to communicate it important in a president I think. Also, Obama has intellect. He is no dummy. He still is way too liberal and mostly if I vote for him it is because I am so pissed at the republicans I could spit nails! Maybe not a good reason but it is what it is.

A month ago I posted in the off topic forum. I was talking about how I had shifted views since living in Brasil and I was looking for reasons to vote democrat. I asked for democrats to convince me I was making the right transition. But then I realized the only real reason for me to turn democrat, was the fact that I would be voting against Bush. It would give me some sense of gratification after having voted for him twice. I rooted for Obama last year when he was fighting Hillary. Hell at one point I even thought he'd make a great President too, but then I decided to research his record, and I found it to be void of substance and fraught with problems.

Honestly I am wishing Clinton had got the nomination. I would prefer her over Obama.

[_dartagnan]

Kevin's evidence is an approval rating in the first half of her term. We have no way of knowing, of course, whether that will hold

No way huh? Well that is a bold statement for someone without a shred of evidence that Alaskans' view of her has taken a nose dive. Even if her rating dropped from the 90's to the 70's, it is still a highly impressive approval rating for any governor. Palin made a name for herself because of her accomplishments. She is outside Washington and is not interested in getting rich in the system that has corrupted numerous politicians before her.

or whether her budget choices will work out in the long run.

Ah, the ole wait and see gambit. Trevor has carefully constructed his standard with numerous double-standards. Nothing she does or did will ever be good enough. He simply doesn't like admitting having been wrong.

It is enough for Kevin that she did things he liked now and that many people in Alaska approve for the time being.

Yes, "things" like fighting off corruption. Something none of her predecessors could do because they were just another part of the corrupt system. "Things" like cutting the budget by substantial margins every year. "Things" like making the Alaskan economy the envy of the nation, where residents actually receive funds provided through revenues of its own state resources. Yes, these are "things" I like, and so do most fiscal conservatives, and so do most Alaskans. Trevor has the hefty task of trying to prove how this is just a fluke, has nothing to do with her ability, and that she might lose her favor among her constituents in the coming years. But don't sexpect him to do this. This requires research and critical thought and a half-way opened mind.

All the while he is unwilling to direct his rebuttals to the real arguments I was making, which were entirely reasonable.

Well since you say so, it must be true. Jason just directed my attention to your off topic thread where you, hilariously post a barage of anti-Palin proving once again, you don't know how to think for yourself. I suspect this is your "argument" you're referring to?

Anything worth responding to will wait until I get back and have time to devote the attention it deserves. I'm still planning to respond to Analytics' idiotic post from a few days ago where he called me an ignoramus for accepting what virtually every economist takes for granted. Until thursday, I am limited to off the cuff rebuttals. I can't get to everyone at the same time, and most of these idiotic posts don't deserve responses anyway.

An old man, who has had significant health problems, has chosen a lightweight to be his number two for the most important position in the world.

"Leightweight" by what standard? Here is where Trev runs and hides his standard under his pillow. He won't tell us what it is because it makes his own choice in Obama embarrassingly hypocritical. Again, he admits they are both "appallingly" inexperienced, but he would rather go with guaranteeing one in the White House instead of the other in the superfluous VP position.

Not only does this show questionable judgment, but if the man does get elected and dies, we will be stuck with his "maverick" experiment.

People like you who do not understand the need to for mavericks in an environment like Washington, simply have no business speaking on politics because you're a part of the problem, not the solution. Experience in Washington has hardly proved beneficial in the White House.

We need soberness and responsibility

Like Biden and Obama!!?!?!?!?!
Here is where you run and hide and pretend you don't like them either, while at the same time admit you're going to vote for them. Whenever I present evidence Biden is an ignoramus who doesn't even know his own Presidential running mate's poistions, and show that Obama can't even remember what the hell he voted on in the past, you get conspicuously silent.

not people who sacrifice good sense to live up to their own campaign rhetoric. The McCain campaign at this point is little more than bad theater.

Only to those who expect theatre. Reasonable Americans expect something much more from government officials. You expect flamboyance with academic credentials and a talent for speaking - those who retain debate trophies from high school.

But to be sure, Obama has provided plenty of comedy for your theatrical needs, with his pick in Biden.

[_Trevor]

With her emphasis on ethics and openness in government, "it turned out Palin caught the temper of the times perfectly," wrote Tom Kizzia of the Anchorage Daily News. She was also lucky. News broke of an FBI investigation of corruption by legislators between the primary and general elections. So far, three legislators have been indicted.

Note that Palin was "lucky."

Palin has crushed the Republican hierarchy (virtually all male) and nearly every other foe or critic. Political analysts in Alaska refer to the "body count" of Palin's rivals. "The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who crossed Sarah," says pollster Dave Dittman, who worked for her gubernatorial campaign. It includes Ruedrich, Renkes, Murkowski, gubernatorial contenders John Binkley and Andrew Halcro, the three big oil companies in Alaska, and [b\a section of the Daily News called "Voice of the Times," which was highly critical of Palin and is now defunct.[/b]

Notice that included here is a crushing of dissent. Is that what I want in America?

Though Alaskans tend to be ferociously anti-tax, she persuaded Wasilla voters to increase the local sales tax to pay for an indoor arena and convention center. The tax referendum won by 20 votes.

And she also left them knee-deep in debt. Figure of increase between 1996 and 2003 financial statements: $22,970,497 is what I saw claimed, but the statements for these years are not to be found on the Wasilla website where it is claimed that they were earlier retrieved. If this is true, it is astounding. For a village of 6000 people!

Her campaign for governor was bumpy. She missed enough campaign appearances to be tagged "No Show Sarah" by her opponents. She was criticized for being vague on issues. But she sold voters on the one product that mattered: herself.

She missed campaign appearances.

She was vague on the issues. Hmmm... sounds familiar.

Selling yourself is surely the important thing, especially for the McCain campaign, which has become quite the little roadshow lately.

Alaska needs to be self-sufficient, she says, instead of relying heavily on "federal dollars," as the state does today.

In the meantime, she would take whatever earmark she could get, and use the fact that she refused a specific project to portray herself "honestly" as the person who refused the money. LOL.

And there's no guile.

I guess we already found out that this is not true.

[Guest]

Maverick is nice but at 72 he really should be picking someone ready on day 1.

And here is the million dollar question that nobody wants to answer. What determines if someone is ready? What constitutes valid preparation for this job? I mean really, when all is said and done, it is the political philosophy that will be ruling, whether it be democrat or republican. Palin is an impressive fiscal conservative. She knows how to cut budgets, and Alaska had an 11 billion dollar budget, which is nothing to sneeze at. She knows how to manage an economy and get the most out of our resources. If there were ever a time iun history the country needs someone like this, it is now. Fabricating these doomsday scenarios of her in the White House, simply because she didn't go to Harvard and she can be caught off guard by journalists, is really a dumb way to mitigate her potential.

Palin seems like a fiscal conservative but mostly right now she is parroting McCain's line which of course she should be doing.

Come on. Plain inspired McCain long beforehand. She inspired republicans everywhere because she was making the republican philosophy become a realization in Alaska. She took care of the gridlock and got her way. Nobody else in Washington has managed to do this in over a century.

Yea but let me tell you something. I remember the first time I heard Presidene Bush speak. I had read about him and how he was the rising star and then I heard him speak and it was almost enough to convince me not to vote for him.

Bush was only a rising star because he had the name recognition and the money to back any political campaign he might persue. Palin was a rising star in spite of her lack of experience, name recognition, and fund raising abilities. She had to rely on her deeds alone, and they have placed here where she is today. Obama has been riding on his skin color from day one.

He just seemed well, dumb! But I still voted for him, twice!!!!

So did I, and Bush is dumb. And he went to Harvard too!

So the ability to communicate it important in a president I think.

Yes it is, but throwing a spotlight on someone with hostile liberal interviewers is not how you determine whether or not a person can communicate well when it really matters. Alone behind closed doors, with no cameras, with just you and another world leader trying to see things eye to eye, that si what really matters. Body language is 80% of the communication. This is a psychological fact. Palin is just an appealing person to speak with, even when you're trying to catch her in a devious snare.

Honestly I am wishing Clinton had got the nomination. I would prefer her over Obama.

I have no delusions about the election. I expect Obama to have a decisive victory. The media will see to that.

Also, Obama has intellect. He is no dummy.

He might know a lot about law, but even Richard has shown his political aspirations have clouded whatever he thought he learned about constitutional law. He is an absolute idiot on the economy. Every time he refers to tax breaks for "the rich" I just want to throw the remote and the TV. Doesn't this moron realize the conservative philosophy by now? He uses this creepy scare tactic for his impoverished base, to make them think republicans are giving "rich" people tax breaks simply because they are "rich."

Never mind the fact that they pay most of the taxes in America.
Doesn't he understand that his idea of taxing the hell out of corporations with only exacerbate the problem of them leaving the country? These are the primary employers in America, it isn't the federal government. This is what McCain tried to tell him in the debate, but it just goes over his head. Why is this such a hard concept to grasp?