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Kasz216 on 10 February 2010

Also...

Sarah Palin doesn't go away because she's shockingly popular.

She ranked second behind Hilary as "Most admired woman" in a recent Gallup poll.

She scores second among independents... somehow.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/113572/obama-hillary-clinton-share-most-admired-billing.aspx



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Sqrl on 11 February 2010
HappySqurriel said:

Sqrl said:

some stuff

...

There is a rationalization for the use of the teleprompter, but the rationalization is not something that most Obama supporters are willing to give. The justification is George W. Bush ...

When a person regularly makes long speeches or presentations which are not carefully scripted they’re likely going to make mistakes; there are lots of reasons for this, and it is not (necessarily) a sign of stupidity or someone being ill informed, it is simply a "Feature" of being human. Now, people probably are wondering why this has to do with George W. Bush but I will explain. Every speech George W. Bush gave during his presidency was closely scrutinized by his opponents, and whenever he made a mistake on film it was taken out of context and used to argue that he was remarkably stupid.

Obama and his handlers are not stupid or naïve, and they all know that that when Obama goes off script he stops sounding like “The One”, starts "Um-ing" and "Ah-ing", and makes as many (if not more) mistakes that are as bad (or worse) than anything Bush did.

I agree totally, but I would explicitly take the point you've made to its final conclusion in saying that neither of them are stupid, dumb, or any other colorful language for which the politically divisive find useful in their commentary.  They are just human.  The oddity of their situation is not their liability for making mistakes but rather the scrutiny that each word they utter comes under.

And I don't think it is at all cynical to say the scrutiny is due, in majority, to a desire by their opposition to undermine their authority and credability through "tempest in a teapot" rhetoric. It is, to borrow a phrase, the politics of personal destruction.

In fact this sort of tactic falls under rules #5 and #11 on Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals:

"Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

....

Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame."

These two rules combined do a fantastic job of summing up what the political environment has become in the last decade.  While Alinsky may have been a liberal it would be a farce to say the right hasn't attempted to copy this strategy...intentionally or not.
To Each Man, Responsibility
NinjaguyDan on 11 February 2010
CommonMan said:
Too bad I'm posting! I'd totally do her.

Hot Dog, Hallway...

put it together.



Switch: SW-5066-1525-5130

XBL: GratuitousFREEK

Esmoreit on 11 February 2010
NinjaguyDan said:
CommonMan said:
Too bad I'm posting! I'd totally do her.

Hot Dog, Hallway...

put it together.


We tend to use the "Weiner in a tin can" description. And praise the lord that there's always one hole that stretches right back to small. (This might be a bit... NSFW even if it's conveluted)



The Doctor will see you now  Promoting Lesbianism -->

                              

TheRealMafoo on 11 February 2010

Here is why I utterly hate Palin (well, I don 't hate her, I just hate that she won't go away).

It is my prediction, that Obama wins the next election, and he does so off the help of Palin. Just like Ross Perot put Clinton in office, so will Palin.

I predict Palin will run under the tea party movement, and she will pull enough votes from the republican to give Obama a second term.

I won't care anymore however, as I won't be living in the US at that point. :P



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damkira on 12 February 2010

By the way, Sqrl.

Here's an article that might interest you:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/photos/6thgrade.asp

(I'm having trouble pasting... )



Sqrl on 12 February 2010
damkira said:
By the way, Sqrl.

Here's an article that might interest you:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/photos/6thgrade.asp

(I'm having trouble pasting... )

I am pretty familiar with the details of those pictures, but  nevertheless I think your highlighting this is worthy since looking back at my post I didn't say much of anything about the specifics really (I wasn't actually trying to make a comment about Obama so much as highlight the double standard so going into detail wasn't instructive for my purposes). 

Anyways, if you read the snope's article they are saying what is false was the impression given by an e-mail sent around saying he needed the prompter to talk to 6th graders.  They go on to note however, that the images themselves are genuine and that he did respond to press questions using the prompters.

The e-mailed item reproduced above uses some pictures of the president's January 2010 Graham Road visit out of context to create the impression that he employed multiple teleprompters merely to undertake the linguistically undemanding task of shooting the breeze with a few dozen elementary school students. However, although the included images are genuine photographs from that event, they don't actually depict what the accompanying text suggests.

Actually, on that day President Obama and Secretary Duncan answered questions posed by some 6th graders (without teleprompters), then moved into another classroom where the president spoke to the assembled press pool (with teleprompters) about the "Race to the Top" program.
In summary:
  • No prompter was used by Obama to talk with 6th graders.
  • The teleprompter was/is used by Obama to answer press questions.
  • Palin's topics on her hand were used during a Q&A.
  • I would also add that if you watch Palin's speach you can see her looking down at notes she has written (presumably on paper) on the lectern as she gives her speech (something that is entirely normal, although not as prevalent (or helpful) as prompters are for most politicians).
To Each Man, Responsibility
HappySqurriel on 12 February 2010

While I don’t agree with the conclusion that Sarah Palin is some sort of genius that is thinking 2 or 3 steps ahead of the brightest members of the progressive side of the democrats, I do think there is some truth to this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-williams/sarah-palin-plays-chess_b_457196.html

A large portion of Sarah Palin’s political power and appeal comes from the reaction from the Democrats and the media; which comes across as elitist, condescending, and out of touch with the values of most Americans. In the process of scoring points with their base, many of Sarah Palin’s most vocal opponents (directly or indirectly) insult the vast majority of Americans.