Showing posts with label palin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label palin. Show all posts

9/12/08

Palin Links Iraq to Sept. 11 In Talk to Troops in Alaska

By Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 12, 2008; A01

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska, Sept. 11 -- Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would "defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans."

The idea that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself. But it is widely agreed that militants allied with al-Qaeda have taken root in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.

"America can never go back to that false sense of security that came before September 11, 2001," she said at the deployment ceremony, which drew hundreds of military families who walked from their homes on the sprawling post to the airstrip where the service was held.

Keep Reading (if you can stomach her)...

punditman says... She's possibly the most dangerous political creature to ever run for high public office. If you think that's me hyperbolizing, just think of the stakes: she could be a heartbeat away from ordering war with Russia and/or Iran (she has hinted at both possibilities). Either could easily go nuclear. It's too bad she's considered a hottie; because if she wasn't, then the shallow and tepid American media would be giving her far less play -- and leeway.

9/8/08

The Mighty, Scary Press Corps

by Glenn Greenwald

Criticizing the McCain campaign for refusing to allow reporters to question Sarah Palin, Time's Jay Carney writes:

Political operatives love to talk about circumventing the media and other co-called "elites" -- i.e., independent specialists, observers and thinkers. The operatives convince themselves they can take their candidate's message directly to the people -- on their terms, without all that poking and prodding and skepticism. That's propaganda. In a democratic society, it rarely works for long.

If only that were true. But if there's one indisputable lesson from the last eight years, it's that political propaganda works exceedingly well -- not despite an aggressively adversarial press but precisely because we don't have one. Carney's idealistic claims about the short life-span of propaganda in American democracy are empirically false:

Peacenik just read elsewhere that Palin has agreed to an interview with Charlie Gibson. Just what Greenwald predicted would happen in this article. I would bet that there will be no gotcha questions and any questions about foreign leaders will be pre-screened. The press hasn't asked anyone in the Bush administration a tough question for 8 years. I don't even know why McCain and Palin are worried. BTW a weekend Gallup poll showed McCain jumping ahead of Obama.

9/6/08

Where Have I Seen Sarah Palin Before?

by Arash Kamangeer
www.antiwar.com

I grew up in Iran and immigrated to US to avoid living in a theocracy. Lately though, the trajectory of US politics is something to worry about, not only to me, but also to many others in my predicament.

Wednesday night at the Republican convention was an especially poignant moment. I was watching Sarah Palin deliver her acceptance speech. As I was watching her, her family, and her adoring fans in the Republican convention, I could not overcome a feeling that I have seen this scene before...

Right after the Revolution in Iran and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the Iran-Iraq war was started. To be fair, Iraq started that war, but the new revolutionary leaders of Iran saw the war as a godsend. They milked it for all it was worth. They labeled anyone against the war as a traitor or unpatriotic. Anyone who suggested that there may be a negotiated settlement was ridiculed and purged from power. Even Ayatollah Khomeini once said that this war is a blessing from God himself. You may see the parallels here already, but keep reading.

Keep Reading...

punditman says...

The article points out that Ayatollah Khomeini once said that the Iran-Iraq war is a blessing from God. Sarah Palin once said that the (current) Iraq war is a "task that is from God."

Recall that the United States is supposedly all about the separation of Church and State. Recall also a time when religious activism meant standing alongside the poor and the beaten down, challenging the money changers and marching alongside the Peacemakers in the tradition of Jesus, Ghandi and Martin Luther King. Then, starting around forty years ago, the American right-wing began a rather successful campaign to appropriate Christian political activism. The result is that they now have much more in common with the mullahs in Iran than with any true lover of freedom. The lethal combination of militarism and religion adds up to theocracy, not democracy.

The author sees this clearly, having looked at two sides of this ugly mirror.