The Respectfully Republican Conversation

Anneshirley...I live on the upper Texas coast so all is well in my world! Thanks far asking!

CM's dress was beautiful at least it didn't look like it came from a thrift shop. I like the way she dresses and yes, she can afford too dress that way. I don't think there is anything wrong with talking about how the First Lady dresses in a political thread, after all if she would have worn shorts and a halter top the media would be on her a** big time.

I just read another article about the pregnancy and really I don't understand the frenzy over this, the girl is 17 and she's pregnant...so what? Good Lord! And with all the younger siblings I bet she has a lot of experience with kids, maybe she never wanted to be anything except a mom and wife, maybe that is what she wants in life. Even so, 17 year olds who get pregnant finish school and go onto college especially when there is an extended family to help out. I really don't get the hype on this one. 

I'm hoping LuAnn will take another peek, too--I missed the conversation yesterday. 

I think your questions are legitimate and welcome and what this "respectfully republican conversation" is about. Regarding your question about conservatives not thinking it (Bristol's pregnancy) is the way to go or the way things should be, I would just have to ask, does anyone?  I don't know anyone, liberal or conservative, that thinks teen pregnancy is a good thing or the way things should go. 

I think the  question is more, would we reject Palin because her daughter's pregnant?  That would be absurd, as far as I'm concerned.  I feel Bristol Palin's pregnancy is a non-issue. 

 I understand you not wanting to engage this thread.  I feel that way too, and is why I don't often visit the other political threads.  I hate it when people get nasty, and I don't have the energy to spend on feeling angry/frustrated.  Besides, I really feel that BC trumps politics, and we are all sisters here!!

Anyway, I wanted you to know I appreciated the respectful way you approached us.  You're awesome.

Sarah Palin Quote of the day:

Kristol on Sarah Palin, Hockey Mom

Posted by William Kristol on September 2, 2008 09:20 AM |

AnnShirley,

No, you did not hint or suggest at the racist remark.  Another member did. 

Am I a lawyer, no.  Have I read our constitution and the basis on which it was written.  Yes.  Did Jefferson have some different views - yes.  Do I think that Obama has tendencies towards socialism -definitely.  I read, I listen, I digest information - thankfully, I am not the only person that holds these views.   

"

Thought this was cute! 

CNN and MSNBC today from early morning until now have only been focused on two things  - the pregnancy of Palin's daughter and that she was not McCain's choice, Liberman was and there was a very heated discussion that he absolutely could not choose Liberman and that Palin was chosen at the last moment without being properly veted. 

They are talking about Palin's children not being told why they were taking the trip to Dayton - what a terrible thing to do to a 17 year old girl that was pregnant. 

They are determined to stop McCain/Palin at any cost.  Bill Clinton had no foreign affairs experience and that was not questioned; his rumored affairs during the campaign were not a problem once they were denied by Bill and Hillary.  Chelsea was off limits too.  I've had a range of emotions watching all of this today from anger at the media bias, finding humor in the media that they are so afraid of this ticket they are relentless and sad that such attention is being given to a private issue. 

Naniam,

That's why I don't watch those channels.  Why get our blood pressure up?  It will all backfire on them.  They can't be liberals one minute, and then sexist the next.  It just doesn't compute.  They did Hillary in, but this time we women are ready for them.  They'll do it enough that women will get mad, then even. Hopefully on election day.   If they didn't have the democrats talking points, we'd be hearing dead air out of the lot of them.

Since you can watch MSNBC, could you tell me which sponsors have the most commercials being repeated.  I need to write a letter to a couple of them about not buying their products any longer. 

From The New Republic--The Plank----  A Word of Caution about Palin (Not a bastion of conservatism) LOL

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

02.09.2008
The Case Against the Case Against Palin

A very good friend, who is a lifelong Alaskan and one of the smartest people I know, offers this word of caution to those (yes, like me) inclined to take Sarah Palin lightly:

    At the end of 2005, a close friend called to say that he begun writing speeches and talking points for a certain gubernatorial candidate.

    "Remind me," I asked. "Who is Sarah Palin?"

    I was dismayed at my friend’s choice of political entree. Why was he wasting his time on a relative nobody, trying to beat an incumbent governor (and former three term senator) in the Republican primary? It was utter folly. "Wait until the big money starts coming in for Murkowski," I said. "Wait until the party machinery goes to work on Palin. They will eat her for lunch."

    Murkowski, for his part, expressed a similar view. "If I decide to," he said, "I will run and I will win. It's that simple."

    The folly, of course, turned out to be my own (and Murkowski's), as Palin slaughtered the incumbent in the primary--posting a 30 point margin of victory--and went on to win the general (over a former Democratic governor) without seeming to break a sweat. She then quickly fulfilled an implicit campaign promise by slapping down ExxonMobil, BP, and ConocoPhillips in negotiations over a proposed Alaska natural gas pipeline, even though they, too, by all accounts, were well prepared to dine on her tender little frame. Not bad for a lightweight.

    Listening to the Democratic leadership respond to John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, one hears echoes of the Alaska Republican leadership from just a few years ago. Barack Obama’s spokesman, Bill Burton, put it this way: "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency." Former mayor? If you're going to skip over her job as governor and, before that, her job heading the commission that oversees production of the largest petroleum reserves in America, why not "former high school student"? Bah, what does it matter: She's just a small town mayor, just a hockey mom, just a beauty pageant queen. Palin has never shunned these belittling monikers, in part, I imagine, because the camouflage has served her so well. Soothed by the litany, her opponents tend to sleep too late, sneer too much, and forget who it is that hires them.

    Watching Palin operate over the past few years has been like witnessing a dramatic reading of All the King’s Men. In 2002, Murkowski had interviewed but passed over Palin in selecting a replacement for the senate seat he vacated to become governor. In a grand act of nepotism, he chose his own daughter instead. Palin was tossed a bone: She chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which oversees the production of petroleum in Alaska. When she reported conflicts of interest and other ethical violations by another commissioner, she was ignored by Murkowski’s chief of staff and ultimately resigned in frustration. One can imagine how the quick double dose of corruption--insiders having their way with the polity and its resources--sickened the young Palin. It also fired a savage competitiveness that is not, perhaps, apparent at first glance.

    What the Republicans missed about Sarah Palin then--and what the Democrats seem poised to miss now--is that she is a true political savant; a candidate with a knack for identifying the key gripes of the populace and packaging herself as the solution. That keen political nose has enabled her to routinely outperform her resume. Nearly two years into her administration, she still racks up approval ratings of 80 per cent or better.

    One might reasonably ask to what extent her local popularity is buoyed by the high price of oil (and thus, a budget surplus, and thus, the ability to carry a stick into meetings with big oil). One might speculate about the durability of her anti-corruption stance in light of her conflict of interest in the dismissal of her director of public safety. And only the truly feckless would not concern themselves about her dearth of foreign policy experience. But in probing this candidate, it would behoove the Democrats and the pundits to shed the notion that they are dealing with some dimwitted bumpkin (Dan Quayle seems to come up a lot lately) who’s going to start crying when they ask her to name the president of Azerbaijan; or that Palin is the townie who was brought into the Skull & Bones initiation night for the amusement of all; or that somehow the prom queen ballots got mixed up with the Alaska gubernatorial poll. Trivialize her at your own peril.

    Sarah Palin is a living reminder that the ultimate source of political power in this country is not the Kennedy School or the Davos Summit or an Ariana Huffington salon; even now, power emanates from the electorate itself. More precisely, power in 2008 emanates from the working class electorates of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

    Sooner or later, the Obama camp will realize that the beauty pageant queen is an enormously talented populist in a year that is ripe for populism. For their own sake, it had better be sooner.

 --Christopher Orr 

Saluki, thanks for that article -

Rosemary,   I normally don't watch MSNBC - I just can't take it anymore and Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman (doberman) send me over the edge.  My DH had tuned in there this morning to watch "Morning Joe".  Pat Buchanan was on and was livid because the Obama camp had put out something that said Palin had supported Buchanan in 2000, a known Nazi sympathizer.  I turned it to CNN and as I was doing chores was listening between them and MSNBC.  I really can't help you with many of their sponsors.  I've emailed MSNBC lots over their sense of fair journalism - CNN also the other day.  If I go back, I'll watch and give you some of their sponsors.  Oh, the drug Evista - well that is one that came on during all of this.  I was walking through when I saw that one.  I think I took notice because I hate that particular advertisement.   

Paulette, that one was on MSNBC - some guy was on there with Norah O'Donnel. She was like a dog with a bone picking Palin apart. 

I never got to sit down and actually watch - just listened - otherwise I could not have taken their "reporting"  

Rosemary---Liz Trotta was pretty nasty on Fox today---

I saw the Blitzer exchange--I wanted to hit him over the head......

My homepage is MSN - they have an article about the boyfriend/father attending the convention tomorrow night to hear Palin speak.  They have "vote" beside the article.  This is MSN, liberal, so the majority vote is that it is not acceptable!!   If you have seen or voted, you may wish to. The comments are not pleasant so be prepared

The convention was awesome tonight ...........  I loved how Fred Thomas talked about the history making Democratic choice:

To deal with these challenges the Democrats present a history making nominee for president.

History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for President. Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress. History making because it's the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation's history.

Together, they would take on these urgent challenges with protectionism, higher taxes and an even bigger bureaucracy.

And a Supreme Court that could be lost to liberalism for a generation.

This is not reform.

And it's certainly not change.

It is basically the same old stuff they've been peddling for years. America needs a President who understands the nature of the world we live in.

A President who feels no need to apologize for the United States of America.

We need a President who understands that you don't make citizens prosperous by making Washington richer, and you don't lift an economic downturn by imposing one of the largest tax increases in American history.

Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases.

They tell you they are not going to tax your family.

No, they're just going to tax "businesses"! So unless you buy something from a "business", like groceries or clothes or gasoline ... or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small "business", don't worry ... it's not going to affect you.

They say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the "other" side of the bucket! That's their idea of tax reform.

My friends, we need a leader who stands on principle.

We need a President, and Vice President, who will take the federal bureaucracy by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shaking.

And we need a President who doesn't think that the protection of the unborn or a newly born baby is above his pay grade.

The man who will be that President is John McCain. "

Anneshirley...what part of it "probably won't happen with Republican women?" Joining in, or saying they disagree with Palin's policies and hate the sexism? Why do you make such comments? I haven't read the Dem thread, did you post it there as well with the same comments? You almost sound like all the fools that say "if you don't vote for Obie wan knobie, you're a racist"...how the H*** do you libs come up with this idiocy?

Someone needs to do a psych study on Libs to see if synapses is working properly...that might explain a lot! 

Thanks Anne, I signed the petition.  I think gender bias is far worse when it comes from women.  For some reason that chaps my ___!   This transcends political views.  Ok, don't like her politics, but stay away from those remarks that clearly wouldn't be said about a man.  It really isn't hard to do. 

One lady called up a show yesterday, she talked about having a bunch of kids and said she was always a successful business woman.  I thought she'd be all for Palin, wrong.  "How dare she run with 5 kids?"  I thought WHAT? 

Madam Pelosi also has 5 kids, did she suffer the same treatment when she was first running back in the day?  If women keep doing this to each other, we'll do a great job at keeping us out of high places.  At least the men will be happy.