Palin Smears Rebutted

These are just a few. I know people don’t consider Fox News “balanced” but Brooks Jackson, the guy being interviewed is from factcheck.org.

The highlights:

• Palin didn’t call for Creationism to be taught in schools
• She didn’t call for books to be banned
• She never endorsed Pat Buchanan for president

Jackson also makes a note about the Obama lipstick remark. As I said before, it is obvious that the what Obama was directly was referring to McCain’s policies and not to Palin. However, the audience obviously pulled a double meaning out of it—whether it was intended or not.

I think its interesting to see how charges of veiled sexism are being brought against a man who has been charging the Republican party with unfounded accusations of overt racism the entire campaign.

Obama’s Pig Comment

When I awoke to find the headline “Obama: lipstick on a pig” below a picture of Palin, I thought for a brief second that the election was over.

Then, I watched the video.  The obvious literal meaning of what he was saying was referring to McCain and not to Palin.  However, in light of Palin’s famous joke about hockey mom’s the statement takes on a different light:

"You know, they say, the difference between a hockey Mom and a pitbull?... Lipstick!"

I can’t say for certain what Obama’s intentions were regarding the statement.  If he did meant it as an underhanded way to poke fun at Palin.  But, we do know that he has a history of making these “subtle” gestures as a way to try to tear down his opponent.  Interestingly, this was against another female opponent back during the primary (it comes about 20 seconds in):

Most people have made off-color gestures or said crude things.  However, this is on stage in front of thousands of people.  Combined with the smug look on his face, the whole thing is hard to confuse.

Hot Air also has a compilation of other things he’s said on the trail about Sen. Clinton that could be construed as racist:

• “She’s got the kitchen sink flying, and the china flying, and the, you know, the buffet is coming at me.” — April 20

• “You challenge the status quo and suddenly the claws come out.” — February, Tulane University

• “I understand that Senator Clinton, periodically when she’s feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal.” — February

Now, most of these things are pretty benign.  The only exception I think is the quote from April 20th, which makes her seem like an angry housewife, and not a US Senator, and opponent in a race for President.

This may seem overly sensitive, but consider if the charges of sexism were flipped to racism.  The race would already be over.

Biden: Life begins at conception

Barak Obama's running mate, Joe Biden dropped what ammounts to a bombshell in an interview on Meet the Press this past Sunday:

"They believe in their faith and they believe in human life, and they have differing views as to when life — I'm prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at the moment of conception."

Wow.  Usually, proponents of abortion rights hide behind the "uncertainty" of when life begins.  We saw Obama use a simlar dodge when asked about human rights for the unborn with his "above my pay-grade" comment.  He was criticized by many, including me, for not having a clear answer on such an important question.

Speaker of the House, and #3 person in the federal government, attempted to defend her position on abortion by muddling Roman Catholic teaching on the matter.  Christianity has been clearly against abortion since its founding.  Pelosi was later rebuked by leaders in the Catholic Church, of which she is a member, for her misleading statements about Catholic doctrine.

However, Biden's statment goes beyond the pale.  Biden cuts through the uncertainty and says that he believes life begins "at the moment of conception."  Yet, he still supports the rights of those who want to take that life, and furthers the industry which profits off the practice.

The question that was asked of Obama at the Saddleback Forum would be especially poigniant if redirected at Biden.  Since Biden believes that life begins at conception, when does this life get human rights?

Then there's a new set of questions that spring forth:  Are there other human lives that can be denied human rights?  Which human rights do we withhold?  Are human rights additive or subtractive?  Meaning, do humans automatically have human rights unless they are restricted, or are they considered withheld unless specifically given to people by the US Congress or Supreme Court?  I know what the Constitution says, but does Biden?

Even for supporters of abortion rights, the Obama-Biden ticket has a lot of questions to answer.

The Gender Card

Jon Stewart has a funny clip about the double-standard some of the conservative talking heads have used in regards to Palin.



Couple things to respond: I'm not going to defend Rove, O'Reilly, or Morris's remarks. They are blatantly hypocritical.

However I think that what Nancy Pfotenhauer, who works for the McCain campaign said is complete different. Clinton was being accused of coming out after one of the debates and complaining that all the male candidates were picking on her. This is the same line of campaigning that was said to have helped her with her iner her debate against Rick Lazio when she was running for senate in 2000.

In regards to Palin, the argument is that the media is the one with the double standard. They have been asking questions they wouldn't ask of a male candidate. When has a male candidate ever had his parenting ability questioned when he was running for office with a new kid, or even where the status of his kids came into play?

Palin is not playing this card. The McCain-Palin campaign is merely asking they they treat her like a candidate, and not a female candidate.

Also, Stewart failed to mention the many double-standards the Obama campaign has been using. These aren't from talking heads, these are coming directly from the campaign.

Ignoring Palin's experience as governor to focus instead on her being a small-town mayor. When Palin made a remark about Obama's experience as a "community organizer," he complained that she was ignoring his subsequent experience.

Playing the race card, while accusing Palin and the GOP of playing the gender card. I have not heard, or seen one attack from the McCain campaign or the GOP regarding Obama's race. Yet, Obama said statements like the one below a few times:

“They know that you’re not real happy with them and so the only way they figure they’re going to win this election is if they make you scared of me,” Obama continued, repeating an attack from earlier in the day. “What they’re saying is ‘Well, we know we’re not very good but you can’t risk electing Obama. You know, he’s new, he doesn’t look like the other presidents on the currency, he’s a got a funny name.’”

After Obama himself said this, I think its hard for his surrogates to accuse Palin of using her gender to advantage--even if she actually has been (and she hasn't been).

Sarah Palin Doesn't Know What the VP does?

This video is getting some play on YouTube. The comments--save for one or two--show how ignorant people can be on the internet. Watch the clip and my commentary is below.



First, Palin responds very clearly to the whole Public Safety Officer controversy. She fired a political appointee. Political appointees serve at the pleasure of the executive. If the executive isn't happy with you, they can can you.

This issue was seen on the national stage with President Andrew Johnson's impeachment back in 1868. Congress has passed a law requiring its approval on any cabinet officials that the president fires. Johnson broke the law and was impeached, but not removed from office. Later, the Supreme Court found it to be an invalid law because it placed an unconstitutional check on the presidency.

I realize that Palin's controversy is happening on a state level, but the principles are the same.

Second, in regards to the duties of the vice president. She wasn't saying that she didn't know what the VP does. She was comparing the relative lack of official responsibilities of the VP (there are only 3 official duties) with her great responsibilities in running a state.

Notice what she said:

"I'm used to being very productive and working really hard every day...We want to make sure that the VP spot would be a fruitful type of position."

The first person to hold the Vice President office, John Adams, famously said of the job that it was, "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."

The extra-Constitutional duties of the VP have been expanded greatly since Truman became president knowing nothing about Rooselvelt's war strategy or even the atomic bomb. That being said, the duties vary from administration to administration.

Palin is just expessing the fact that as a governor she is very busy and has a lot of responsibilties compared to the vice president job which has been known through most of its history as an "insignificant office."

New Blog

After two years of postings at an American in Geoje, I've decided to begin a transition away from blogging about Korea. I chose "American Foreigner" since those are two labels I've worn for the last two years, and will likely wear for the rest of my life.

I intend for this to be more personal in nature. American in Geoje was written for people to read--friends and family back home interested in my life, people moving to Korea or Geoje wanting to know what they are in store for, and for random people searching for "Tromm Invertor."

The theme of this blog has really yet to be decided, but for now I'm going to blog about topics concerning the upcoming US Presidential Election, and also the Missouri Gubenatorial election.

As always, your feedback is appreciated.