The Economist: "The Woman From Nowhere". (Sarah Palin)

[nickgutierrez]

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12066224

This is a remarkable summary of the arguments against Palin, making the case that she's the most inexperienced candidate in recent memory.

THE most audacious move of the race so far is also, potentially, the most self-destructive. John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running-mate has set the political atmosphere alight with both enthusiasm and dismay.

(snip)

The political calculations behind Mr McCain’s choice hardly look robust. Mrs Palin is not quite the pork-busting reformer that her supporters claim. She may have become famous as the governor who finally killed the infamous “bridge to nowhere”—the $220m bridge to the sparsely inhabited island of Gravina, Alaska. But she was in favour of the bridge before she was against it (and told local residents that they weren’t “nowhere to her”). As mayor of Wasilla, a metropolis of 9,000 people, she initiated annual trips to Washington, DC, to ask for more earmarks from the state’s congressional delegation, and employed Washington lobbyists to press for more funds for her town.

(snip)

The moose in the room, of course, is her lack of experience. When Geraldine Ferraro was picked as Walter Mondale’s running-mate, she had served in the House for three terms. Even the hapless Dan Quayle, George Bush senior’s sidekick, had served in the House and Senate for 12 years. Mrs Palin, who has been the governor of a state with a population of 670,000 for less than two years, is the most inexperienced candidate for a mainstream party in modern history.

Inexperienced and Bush-level incurious. She has no record of interest in foreign policy, let alone expertise. She once told an Alaskan magazine: “I’ve been so focused on state government; I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq.” She obtained an American passport only last summer to visit Alaskan troops in Germany and Kuwait. This not only blunts Mr McCain’s most powerful criticism of Mr Obama. It also raises serious questions about the way he makes decisions.

(emphasis in last sentence mine)

[patrice]

1. Palin makes me wonder if McCan't has somekind of Impulse Disorder.

[speedoo]

3. He is an impulsive, self-indulgent, immature old fool. nt

[nickgutierrez]

19. He certainly is impulsive.

He acknowledges it himself, saying that he "lives with the consequences".

Unfortunately, if he becomes president, we'll all have to live with it. This is unacceptable.

[speedoo]

2. Thank you, England.

Sometimes, I think the BBC and The Economist are the only sane, unbiased english-speaking news media in the world.

[Kber]

5. The economist is a fairly right leaning publication, by European standards

but they are sane, generally speaking.

[nickgutierrez]

11. Good point

They're pretty liberal, socially - but they're just slightly less extreme than the Republicans on taxes and financial policy.

[smoochpooch]

6. Unfortunately, the general electorate reads neither. nt

[RichardUK]

7. BBC

The BBC are not unbiased, they're just biased in the right direction ;)

[Phx_Dem]

4. Wow. That's tough but good.

Good to know some of the media are holding McCain accountable for this reckless and frightening judgement.

[Cha]

8. Not only "inexperienced" but

seen as an unholy alliance with hypocricy and gutting the Constitution. She shows no respect and will recieve none.

[nickgutierrez]

9. She knows nothing about the Constitution.

She thought the Founders not only wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, but wrote it including the words "under god".

[ashling]

10. This is off topic, but at the link

on the economist page, there is an ad and link to the Fifth China Branding Roundtable

did anyone else get the same image I did about rounding up Chinese dissidents?

Now you can go back to your regularly scheduled thread.

[siligut]

17. Not sure what you saw.

I gather it is about marketing and saw nothing about dissidents.

[ashling]

20. The image in my mind

Of course there was nothing there about that ... but the term Chinese branding... oh, nevermind.

[siligut]

22. I know what you mean.

I wondered if it was subliminal before you said anything, and chose not to click on the image. I did a search on google for it so I could respond to your question intelligently. I am very wary of subliminals, and am concerned they contain even more than the initial impression.

As we both sensed something askew, there probably is something. Will have to copy it and look at it some more.

[ashling]

23. I was not suggesting that there was anything "subliminal"

I didn't even click on it. It is obviously about business branding in China (or so I assume). The words "Chinese branding" in themselves suggested the "image" I mentioned. And I use the word "image" metaphorically, not in the visual sense necessarily, but an example would numbers tatooed on the arms of holocaust victims.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

12. "It also raises serious questions about the way he makes decisions"

That's why the continued investigation into Palin is important. Her selection is a reflection on McCain's judgement and temperament in exercising the most important decision towards the Presidency that he's ever made.

[chill_wind]

21. Can't be stressed nearly enough. n/t

[Mme. Defarge]

13. Recommended - n/t

[Okie4Obama]

14. The Economist may be free trade and pro-business...

...but they are also green and do not believe Grandma should starve in the street so that the wealthy should avoid paying too much taxes. They are conservative in their bias but not neocons like the people (and I use the term loosely) in charge of the Republican party. I am taking a class in college where we discuss articles from the Economist this week, and I hope to God this one is not picked considering I live in one of the reddest states in the nation. The conversation would not be pretty.

[BeyondGeography]

15. That's the civilized view

Problem is, we're not terribly civilized in a lot of ways.

[madrchsod]

16. the world is scared to death about a john and sarah whitehouse

if they get elected the world will move away from the usa. they`ll cut their loss and move on. as a poster here said this afternoon..we will become the old soviet union.

[VoodooGuru]

18. K&R

This is a very good sign.