McCain's VP:

The point to be lamented is not that Sarah Palin comes from outside Washington, or that she has glimpsed so little of the earth's surface (she didn't have a passport until last year), or that she's never met a foreign head of state. The point is that she comes to us, seeking the second most important job in the world, without any intellectual training relevant to the challenges and responsibilities that await her. There is nothing to suggest that she even sees a role for careful analysis or a deep understanding of world events when it comes to deciding the fate of a nation.

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The problem, as far as our political process is concerned, is that half the electorate revels in Palin's lack of intellectual qualifications. When it comes to politics, there is a mad love of mediocrity in this country.

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I care even more about the many things Palin thinks she knows but doesn't: like her conviction that the Biblical God consciously directs world events. Needless to say, she shares this belief with millions of Americans"but we shouldn't be eager to give these people our nuclear codes, either. There is no question that if President McCain chokes on a spare rib and Palin becomes the first woman president, she and her supporters will believe that God, in all his majesty and wisdom, has brought it to pass. Why would God give Sarah Palin a job she isn't ready for? He wouldn't. Everything happens for a reason. Palin seems perfectly willing to stake the welfare of our country"even the welfare of our species"as collateral in her own personal journey of faith. Of course, McCain has made the same unconscionable wager on his personal journey to the White House.

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We have endured eight years of an administration that seemed touched by religious ideology. Bush's claim to Bob Woodward that he consulted a "higher Father" before going to war in Iraq got many of us sitting upright, before our attention wandered again to less ethereal signs of his incompetence. For all my concern about Bush's religious beliefs, and about his merely average grasp of terrestrial reality, I have never once thought that he was an over-the-brink, Rapture-ready extremist. Palin seems as though she might be the real McCoy. With the McCain team leading her around like a pet pony between now and Election Day, she can be expected to conceal her religious extremism until it is too late to do anything about it. Her supporters know that while she cannot afford to "talk the talk" between now and Nov. 4, if elected, she can be trusted to "walk the walk" until the Day of Judgment.

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What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents"and her supporters celebrate"the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance. Watching her deny to Gibson that she had ever harbored the slightest doubt about her readiness to take command of the world's only superpower, one got the feeling that Palin would gladly assume any responsibility on earth:

"Governor Palin, are you ready at this moment to perform surgery on this child's brain?"

"Of course, Charlie. I have several boys of my own, and I'm an avid hunter."

"But governor, this is neurosurgery, and you have no training as a surgeon of any kind."

"That's just the point, Charlie. The American people want change in how we make medical decisions in this country. And when faced with a challenge, you cannot blink."

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Ask yourself: how has "elitism" become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence.

Diest TKO wrote:

Who is denigrating Palin and how? Names, quotes, and what office they are running for please.

Consider the definition of "denigrate".
minimize: cause to seem less serious; (PTA references and small town mayor experience) play down; (her experience)" charge falsely or with malicious intent;(her Down baby is her daugher's) attack the good name and reputation of someone; (troopergate)

Criticise so as to besmirch; traduce, disparage, or defame; Treat as worthless; belittle, degrade, or disparage; Blacken (Read Debra Law's posts)

(CNN) " McCain-Palin campaign officials shifted course Tuesday after being informed by television news organizations that they would not broadcast footage of Sarah Palin’s meeting with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai Tuesday in New York " the Republican VP nominee’s first with a foreign leader " if a reporter was not allowed in to observe the pair.

CNN, which was the pool network for the event, informed the campaign of its decision. The network was then told a CNN producer would be allowed in the room to act as a media representative, just minutes before the photo op was scheduled to take place. However, print reporters and wire services were not allowed to observe the meeting, as they have been able to do at similar McCain events in the past.

The press only caught a brief glimpse of the vice presidential nominee. Palin was seated in a large chair a few feet from Karzai, with a table in between them. Seated slightly behind Palin were campaign foreign policy advisers Steve Biegun and Randy Scheunemann, who are accompanying the governor in her motorcade today.

As the pool entered, the Afghan president appeared to be telling Palin about his young son, who was born in January 2007.

Palin, her legs crossed and at one point patting her heart, was leaning in eagerly and smiling. Karzai, wearing his traditional clothes but without his trademark karakul hat, was also grinning while discussing the child. His remarks were mostly unintelligible as the noise from the clicking cameras drowned them out.

“What is his name?,” Palin asked.

“Mirwais,” Karzai responded. “Mirwais, which means, ‘The Light of the House.’”

“Oh nice,” Palin responded.

“He is the only one we have,” remarked Karzai.

After 29 seconds observing the meeting, CNN and other photographers covering the meeting were escorted out of the room.

Later, McCain-Palin press representatives chalked up the restrictions to a “mix-up, a miscommunication among staff.” The full pool " a print and wires reporter, along with a television producer " was then allowed in to observe Palin’s meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for 15-20 seconds.

I wonder if Newsweek is running headlines on the Democrat hacker that hacked into Palin's email? Maybe they could get some flattering pictures of the guy to run on their next cover, with the headline saying "Democrat Operative"? I would love that."

I have disagreed with it so much that I find it distressing to even read anymore, so I ignore it.

censorship, ha ha, ci, you are hilarious. Yes, I censor what I read. You are not going to force me to read worthless liberal news sources that are hopelessly mired in their own biased view of the world.

Berger wrote:

In simple terms Berger, I don't think you'd approve of any criticism given to her.

You would be wrong.

In more complex terms, I think your use of denigrate is impregnated with a suggestion that Obama has participated in some systemic sexist pandering to voters.

And you would be wrong again. I used the term as it is defined to describe the attacks on Palin's fundamental Christian faith and family.

Get your attack straight; regroup your thoughts, then try again.

What is it?

Her actions as governor are not off limits: "Troopergate" is fair game.

Of ourse it is but it is nothing more than an attempt to denigrate her. Do you think any respondent in an exit poll will say that he did not vote for McCain because Palin fired a guy whom she had appointed to serve at her pleasure when he gave her reason to no longer be pleased by his actions?

She is now a part of a campaign that has largely leveraged the argument that Obama does not have enough experience. Obama has every right to illustrate the double standard.

Yes he does, but the difference in the experience record of Palin as Mayor and Governor is far deeper than Obama's tissue thin one.

As for her youngest child, It's not Obama that is promoting this idea. He doesn't need to get involved. It's media created. Just like the media memes against Obama ala "secret Muslim."

Actually it was blogs populated by Dems specializing in denigrating smears.

If McCain thinks he can bait the public and then simply cry foul to bargain a sympathy vote into the oval office, he's wrong. Every chance McCain has had to win, he has thrown away for the hope that attack ads would do the job.

Attack ads work because people have become cynical, but after the last 7.5 years, people have become cynical enough to question whether or not they are being manipulated. This is why Obama does so well when he put out a 2minute ad that talks about his plan for the economy and doesn't even have to mention McCain or Bush.

You'll figure it out before McCain does though.

Obama supporters will figure out that this election is going to be Mondale, McGovern, Gore, Kerry redux after the 3 debates the evasive Mr. Obama will have with the straight talking McCain. Ditto for the Palin-Biden debates.

T
K
O

Okay, that is surprising initially, but where is the article, on the cover, or hidden somewhere in the magazine? Did anyone explore whether this kid has any ties to any Obama campaign operatives? Was that question asked? I found the article very kind to the guy rather than asking serious questions that should have been asked. Rather than being a good example in your favor, perhaps not. It appears to be a token article where the details are generally passed off as some innocent act by some upstanding young guy. Maybe, but I doubt it. Not a great article in my opinion. If it was a Republicans son hacking into Biden's email, you can bet it would have been written differently, more things insinuated, and more serious questions asked. Hacking into a vp email account is not innocent stuff in my opinion.

So there you have it, guys, that example is a good one that shows biased reporting.