Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

I like the pick.  Thank goodness it wasn’t Lieberman or Romney. It clearly moves the GOP in the right direction in terms of being younger, fresher, and anti-corruption. It also gets away from the problem where the GOP faces have all been very Southern for a long time.

My fear is that we are looking at the new Dan Quayle.  Remember, he was supposed to be young, conservative, surprising.  It’s strange that the major party tickets are becoming like the NBA draft, where people get selected on the basis of “talent”, “promise” and “potential,” instead of proven track records.  I know we’ll be in trouble if we start hearing about “upside.”

I was under the impression that Palin is an evangelical, but I may be wrong.  She is strongly pro-life and actually walks the walk.

I think she was picked just as much for her blue-collar creds as her sex.  And I think that’s one reason we’re not looking at another Quayle. Qualyle’s persona was dumb frat boy. I saw Palin speak right now, and she strikes me as authentic and down-to-earth in a way that none of the other pols do. 

I doubt that she’ll pull in the PUMA vote, though.  They hate women who are pro-life (trust me on that) and if Palin is a success as VP, she’ll be Hillary’s competition in 2012.  Trust me on something else too - Palin’s looks won’t help her with the PUMA’s.  I can just hear the catty “beauty queen” comments coming down the road.

I think Palin will help to ensure that white men will come out and vote.

I’m cautiously optimistic.  Great personal story; fits into the maverick story; seems salt of the earth.  Note that both she and McCain will have (or have had) children serve in Iraq.  If she had two more years of experience, I’d be more comfortable though.

By the way, it’ll be interesting to see the debates.  Biden will have to be very, very careful (not his strength) so as not to look like a jerk in going after her.  Remember Lazio and Hillary?

I think I can see what McCain is actually up to here: He’s going to play the “no executive experience” card, and play it hard, as his second card after “Obama himself has no experience” card starts to wear thin. However —

* If we’ve learned anything since the early 1970s, it is that being governor does not provide executive experience that transfers to Washington. And it doesn’t matter what ideology one chooses as good: Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and George III all committed serious management gaffes by trying to directly apply experience they gained as governors to Washington.

* Governor of Alaska? Sure, it’s geographically big, but…

* Woman to balance race. Yeah, that’s not cynical at all.

On the other hand, I suppose I should be happy that there is no Confederate person on either ticket for the first time in half a century.

My dream pick.  McCain went up two points on Intrade this morning the day after the Democrat Convention!  Obama’s speech was decent, but he dropped two points.  Ouch.  Yeah this is a game changer. 

Is she Catholic?  I heard she was Evangelical?  Whatever, a woman who is attractive, for energy exploration, conservative, pro guns, babies, knows how to shoot a moose, and bait a hook is HOT.

Steve, she doesn’t eat “moose hamburgers.” She eats mooseburgers.

Moose burgers, schmoose burgers.  The key fact is not that she eats moose (supposedly moose stew is her favorite dish) she hunted and killed the moose to put in the freezer.

With the exception of John Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower, it’s been maybe 90 years since the USA has elected anybody to be President othen than an ex state governor or ex Vice President.  Both Eisenhower and Hoover had had significant executive experience directing massive field organizations.

When push comes to shove, Senators make mediocre Presidential candidates--and generally don’t succeed.  This election is going to result in the first Senator since JFK taking the oath for President of the United States.  Just don’t know which one.

But I like Palin.  It was an inspired choice on the grumpy old man’s part.

It’s a bit ironic that the GOP will be represented by the former governor of America’s number 1 welfare state.

Alaska sucks on the tit of the federal government more than any other state in more ways than one.

The most federal dollars per capita.

The best deal on mineral royalties from federal lands by far.

Palin was runner-up Miss Alaska in 1984.

Given McCain’s obvious predilection for beauty queens (eg., his first wife) a thought occurs to me:  Clinton’s affair with an intern will look trivial after McCain bangs his own Veep in the Oval Office.

A search on Palin shows various listings as “Christian”, Protestant, Assemblies of God, but nothing as Catholic.

Either way, I like her record on the life issue. And she leads by example.

Joel: Classy.  Tell me, how did those rumors about McCain’s alledged affair work out?  Any substance there, compared to say, the Edwards scandal?

I’ve seen Palin’s husband. The First Dude of Alaska is quite a honey (and doesn’t look like the sort who frets about the cost of argula). Believe me, if I were Sarah, I wouldn’t feel the need to go comparison shopping.

Don’t go projecting Slick Willie morals onto everybody now,...,

Palin on the teaching of creationism and evolution in public schools: “Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.”

This is terrifying.  Palin believes evolution IS SUBJECT TO DEBATE.  If creationism finds its way into public schools, the U.S. is sure to continue to lag behind the world in math and science—the analytical building blocks of free markets and free minds.  Our current failed public school system has already set us on the path to becoming uncompetitive in the global economy.  This would totally disable us for generations to come.

Please look beyond moose meat and beauty queens and guns.  I am sure Palin is a nice woman, a good parent, and an interesting and dynamic political figure in Alaskan history.  But if the 2008 Republican ticket is elected and god forbid McCain dies in office, we should brace ourselves.  Palin will send the U.S. spinning backwards in time.

This is terrifying.  Palin believes that evolution is SUBJECT TO DEBATE!  What a horrible thing for someone to believe.

Gracefire, that sort of comment represents what, in my mind, is so frightening about the secular left. Al Bloviator Gore has declared that the world will drown in 10 years, more or less, as a result of global warming.  There are people who don’t believe he’s right, and that the science, such as it is, is subject to debate.

But once an idea is in those secular left brains, and once the “experts” have opined, than all further debate is shut off, and the left wants to forbid further expression of ideas they don’t agree with.

Give me a break. What ever happened to the idea that robust debate of all ideas in the marketplace was a good thing--and that the strong ones would win out, and the weak ones would die?

Mr Myers, that “marketplace of ideas” concept is generally a good one… but it assumes that fraud will not distort the process. And I can think of nothing in the current marketplace of ideas that is more fraudulent than using purported Biblical inerrancy to question the legitimacy not of scientific knowledge, but the scientific process. Creationism is the snake oil of the marketplace of ideas.

Yes, Michael Myers, I agree that results generated through scientific research should be rigorously scrutinized, tested, and then retested.  Indeed, such scrutiny is the essence of the scientific process.  I do not agree the evolution should be “debated.” There is an evidentiary basis to biological evolution; it is the foundation of modern science.  That Palin wants to place a core set of irrefutable facts about the natural world that have been “established through numerous observations and independently derived experimental results” into “debate” against creationism which is by definition not testable by science is unacceptable.  That she wants to proceed with this “debate” in our public school classrooms is even more reprehensible.  The teaching of creationism nationwide will weaken and distort even the best of our young minds.  Without the analytical skills developed through the rigorous study of math and hard science, the next generation of Americans will not be able to compete with technology powerhouses of Asia, Europe, and the rest.  Period.  Palin and her ideas will diminish U.S. competitiveness in the global economy.

If you read the whole quote (or perhaps her followup comment, I forget which), Palin says she doesn’t think creationism needs to be taught as part of the curriculum. What she says is that if it comes up in class discussion then it would be appropriate to discuss it, apparently as an alternative point of view.

Little known fact: Sarah Palin got Tom Brady pregnant, and then left him.

Little known fact: Sarah Palin makes Andrew Sullivan regret some key life choices.

Little Known Fact: Sarah Palin’s presence in the lower 48 means the Arctic ice cap can finally return.

Global Warming doesn’t kill polar bears. Sarah Palin does - usually with her bare hands.

Sarah Palin’s hotness is the largest single contributor to melting polar ice caps.

The Northern Lights are really just the reflection from Sarah Palin’s eyes.

Sarah Palin fishes salmon by convincing them it’s in their interest to jump into the boat.

Sarah Palin once guided Santa’s sleigh through an Alaskan blizzard with the light from her smile.

Little Known Fact: Sarah Palin is allowed first dibs on Alaskan wolfpack kills.

Sarah Palin’s brain is three times the size of Joe Biden’s. It’s science.

http://www.palinfacts.com/?paged=3

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/29/video-the-lyin-king/

Let the healing begin.  It is almost like going to Orlando.  Magical.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/29/the-daily-shows-obama-bio_n_122350.html

Unfortunately Sarah Palin and McCain stepped all over the news cycle and we missed this gem of a film on the awesome life of Barack Obama.  It is a miracle.  The utter and complete fabulous gift that will heal our wounds and save us.  Complete us. 

He. Is. The. One.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/31/video-red-state-update-on-the-palin-pick/

The attacks against Palin and her family are shocking.  I can only conclude that the Obamaphiles know this is a potential game changer so they are throwing the full gamit of their attack against her.  If Palin is crushed, then it means victory for Obama.  If she survives, it likely means McCain and Palin will be dancing in January. 

Andrew Sullivan’s attacks have been particularly vicious, meanspirited and frankly dishonest.  I am not one of those persons calling Barack Obama a mulsim or terrorist.  Plus I am a Daily Dish Sullivan Reader from way back when Sullivan first started after 9/11.  I defended Sullivan when he called Hugh Hewitt on his past excesses (although I never recall Hewitt attacking a politician’s kids).  I have also defended Sullivan in the past from Ace, HotAir, Michelle Malkin, Jonah Goldberg, John Podhoretz, etc.  I often do not agree with Sullivan’s take, but I thought he was an honorable voice.  For me to attack him now is a big deal, but it is justified. 

Sullivan crossed a line with this nonsense.  You do not attack a candidate’s children without good cause and solid evidence.  A Daily Kos echo chamber is not a legitimate source.  Sullivan played the role of a dirty gutter hack.  And he did it all on his own. 

John Podhoretz nails it with this article:  http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/jpodhoretz/24862

Great article in Time about Bristol and Palin’s Home Town. 

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837862,00.html

BTW--Kudos to Barack Obama.  You heard me.  Sen. Obama shows both class and judgment.  Prehaps some of his followers should do the same?  http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/09/the_decency_of_barack_obama.asp

I still haven’t figured out why Palin is a good pick from anyone’s point of view.  I am a conservative who never voted anything but Republican until Bush (I worked quite hard on McCain’s 2000 campaign).  Bush started (continued?)a trend of anti-intellectual, anti-debate, anti-transparency that is disturbing.  But now Palin is a great choice?

As a small government person, I am extremely disturbed by the amount evangelical’s control the Republican party.  Palin is a christian...so what?  So is Obama and Biden and McCain and millions of others.  She is pro-life?  Great...so are many other people.  But these are not at all related to her ability to be vice-president (or, if tragedy strikes, president).

Let’s look at her qualifications.  She was mayor of a small town and then governor of a state with a small population (less than, for example, Columbus, Ohio) for less than 2 years.  During her time in office as Mayor, she turned a surplus into a significant deficit and tried to fire a librarian who wouldn’t ban certain books from the library.  She also supported the “bridge to nowhere” and mentioned such support in speeches while running for governor (she later changed, after the idea died).  Palin has been governor for a short period of time and really has done little—the “corruption clean-up” is not really true, as Alaskan politics are still quite seedy.  Her troopergate scandal is an example of abuse of power for personal gain that is immoral, unconstitutional everywhere and not suitable for any public office—these types of personal acts were a big factor in attacks on Clinton and a major reason I was against him even as his policies became more conservative.  And does anyone really believe that she knows foreign relations well because Alaska borders Canada and Russia (does this mean that every governor through all the years of Washington, Idaho, Montana, etc. become experts on Canada and should be part of our foreign relations?)

For people who tout her experience relative to Obama’s, I think they are being disingenuous.  Obama has laid out a platform of ideas, some more specific than others, as to America’s interaction with the world, our fiscal policies, our goals and his plans to reach what he believes are priorities for our country.  Joe Biden has also spoken for years on many issues, especially foreign policy.  McCain, who is not overly well-versed in economic issues, does have strong stances for foreign policy and certain domestic issues.

Palin...all interviews with her have demonstrated little to no knowledge or interest in the rest of the world.  McCain spoke with her 1-2 times and not extensively, so he cannot know much more about her.  Apparently he didn’t know all of her previous views—the initial speech touted her anti-bridge to nowhere stance.  The speech also trumpeted that she had a baby with Down’s Syndrome, a fact that is admirable (and does clearly show she is pro-life), but hardly something that will make her better off taking trips to Georgia (as Cheney is now) during a confrontation with Russia.

Perhaps this is a great selection to get McCain elected—Palin will rally the evangelicals (similar to the gay marriage amendments in 2004) to turn out and vote.  But just because it assists McCain in getting elected does not mean it is a good choice for our country.  Palin is unqualified for the vice-presidency (both in comparison to previous candidates and from review of our policies and statements) and I would not be comfortable trusting someone as untried, uncertain and, perhaps most importantly, unknown in handling the work as vice-president or president.