Palin: ‘I’m Not Going To Call’ Obama ‘A Socialist,’ But He Believes In Socialism
Palin: ‘I’m Not Going To Call’ Obama ‘A Socialist,’ But He Believes In Socialism
Today, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sat down with CNN for the first time. During the interview, CNN reporter Drew Griffin noted that “socialism” has “come up on the campaign trail.” But when Griffin asked, “is Barack Obama a socialist,” Palin dodged and deferred to “Joe the plumber“:
PALIN: I’m not going to call him a socialist but as Joe the plumber has suggested, in fact, he came right out and said it, it sounds like socialism to him and he speaks for so many Americans who are quite concerned now after hearing finally what Barack Obama’s true intentions are with his tax and economic plan.
Watch it:
Palin is trying to have it both ways — trying to take the high road in saying she won’t call Obama a “socialist” and at the same time, calling his policies “socialism,” all while hiding behind “Joe the plumber.” Indeed, just hours before her CNN interview, Palin told Glenn Beck, referring to Obama’s tax policy, “We cannot flirt with this and now is not the time to experiment with, as Joe the plumber calls it, socialism.”
In fact, by definition, a “socialist” is “one who advocates or practices socialism,” which is exactly what Palin has been accusing Obama of for the last week:
– October 17: “Sen. Obama said that he wants to spread the wealth and he wants government to take your money and decide how to best to redistribute it according to his priorities…Joe [the plumber] suggested that sounded a little bit like socialism.”
– October 19: “Friends, now is no time to experiment with socialism. To me our opponent’s plan sounds more like big government, which is the problem.”
– October 20: “There are socialist principles to [Obama's tax plan], yes.”
Perhaps Palin is also trying to distance herself from the right wing’s common talking point that Obama is a Marxist. But it seems that she has at least one mainstream media figure fooled. Time’s Mark Halperin said of Palin’s CNN interview: “Palin declines to call Obama ’socialist.’”
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Anti-American: Exhibit A
October 21st, 2008 at 7:34 pmMaybe she and her Witch Doctor preacher should "check" him, in a family-values 4-way featuring rep. Bachmann.
Incoherent Kooks.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:38 pmIn much the same way that night follows day, a desperate John McCain predictably played the "socialist" card against Barack Obama. Ratcheting up his recent scurrilous attacks that Obama's tax cuts for working Americans constitute "welfare," McCain in his Saturday radio address followed running mate Sarah Palin and Ohio Senator George Voinovich in branding Obama a socialist. Sadly for McCain, his thundering diatribe against refundable tax credits makes him a sworn enemy of his hero Ronald Reagan and, as it turns out, himself.
Again ignoring the inconvenient truth that virtually all American workers pay Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, McCain went on the warpath against Obama's plan that would offer tax relief to 95% of taxpayers...
For the details, see:
October 21st, 2008 at 7:42 pm"McCain Blasts Reagan, Self as Socialist."
Clearly Governor Palin must have aced her Political Science class.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:42 pmSo Joe speaks for so many Americans. Does illegal maybe "under the table" work . Doesn't pay his taxes. A lien outstanding for well over a year is not something many Americans have. I wonder what will be seized to satisfy it. His truck maybe? Joe speaks for Joe the crook and Mooselini and WhereAmI McLame.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:45 pmDoes she even know what socialist means?
Somebody please keep this idiot from embarrassing herself any further.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:46 pmSince Joe the Plumber speaks for so many Americans, I believe John should step aside. Vote for Joe the Plumber and Sarah the Housewife. Oh wait, Joe’s real last name is hard to pronounce. Nevermind.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:48 pmShe's a VP candidate and she's basing her remarks on a plumber's assistant who seems to not read the newspaper, idiocracy defined.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:49 pmSociliasm eh? What do you call it when the state subsidizes your childrens travel plans...
AP INVESTIGATION: Palin children traveled on state
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_el_pr/palin_family_travel
send this BarelyCoulda back to wassila and lets start a movement to get our bucks back from alaska to boot. I resent having my tax dollars subsidizing those ice-billies meth habits..
October 21st, 2008 at 7:49 pmSo now they are taking their political insight and strategy from an unlicensed plumber in Ohio who owes back taxes and is not even registered to vote?
How desperate can one get?
All hail Joe and his magic plunger!
October 21st, 2008 at 7:51 pmROTFL!!! and so does Paulson, Bush, Bernanke and ALL OF WALL STREET and frankly THE WHOLE WORLD! This bailout is the LARGEST EXERCISE IN SOCIALISM THE WORLD HAS SEEN! But Caribou Barbie doesn't know what those BIG WORDS mean - poor little TARD! A bonafide GOP TARD raising a down syndrome baby - wow that's sad!
October 21st, 2008 at 7:52 pmSarah, plain and telling tall tales again. You gotta love Joe though:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/128323
More license problems.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:52 pmI saw the Palin interview on CNN, and she was babbling on about patriotism and McCain's war wounds as proof of his character, adding hearty layers of misplaced nouns and adjectives, basically creating a multi-layered, but ultimately meatless sandwich. Calling Obama a believer in socialism is a joke. Has Caribou Barbi even glanced at the bailout package that McCain supported?
October 21st, 2008 at 7:52 pmDo these morons consider the damage they are doing to the nation as a whole with their venomous comments?
October 21st, 2008 at 7:53 pmIf anyone is to be labeled as unamerican, it would surely be those who make these outrageously irresponsible and damaging public statements.
As for Halperin, he is a tool, a fool and likely a half-bubble off plumb.
AP INVESTIGATION: Palin children traveled on state
http://news.yahoo.com/ s/ ap/ 20081021/ ap_on_el_pr/ palin_family_travel
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:54 pmHmm... Obama depends on the economic counsel of Warren Buffet...
Sarah 'Cuda leans on the wisdom of Joe the Plumber...
'Nuff said.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:57 pmTHE STUPIDITY IS JUST TOO MUCH AT CNN....
PLEASE VOICE YOUR DISGUST WITH THIS LATEST FORAY INTO THE DEPTHS OF IDIOCY....I DID!
360@cnn.com, loudobbs@cnn.com, am@cnn.com, bill.schneider@turner.com, jeanne.meserve@turner.com, jim.walton@turner.com, deirdre.walsh@turner.com, caffertyfile@cnn.com, kyra.phillips@turner.com, lou.dobbs@turner.com, miles.obrien@turner.com, candy.crowley@turner.com, jon.klein@cnn.com, greg.d'alba@cnn.com, jonathan.davies@cnn.com, Richard.Davis@cnn.com, susan.grant@cnn.com, ken.jautz@cnn.com, tony.maddox@cnn.com, jim.walton@cnn.com, jack.womack@cnn.com, Christiane.Amanpour@cnn.com, wolf.blitzer@cnn.com, soledad.obrien@cnn.com, sanjay.gupta@cnn.com, anderson.cooper@cnn.com, cnnfutures@cnn.com, dana.bash@cnn.com, Campbell.brown@cnn.com, Gloria.borger@cnn.com, Jim.Acosta@cnn.com, john.roberts@cnn.com, ali.velshi@cnn.com, Carol.Costello@cnn.com, rick.sanchez@cnn.com, joanna.digeronimo@cnn.com, JESSICA.YELLIN@CNN.COM, candy.crowley@cnn.com, drew.griffin@cnn.com
October 21st, 2008 at 7:58 pmI'm confused..hasn't it be established that "Joe the Plumber" would actually benefit more from Obama's plan. Am I missing something?
October 21st, 2008 at 7:59 pm“We cannot flirt with this and now is not the time to experiment with, as Joe the plumber calls it, socialism.”
This from a woman whose state levied a windfall profits tax on oil companies and then redistributed the money to each Alaskan resident? From the governor of a state who receives more federal money per capita than any other?
I suppose if anyone knows big government, head in the cash trough redistributionism, it's Sarah Palin.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:59 pmOT - anyone consistently loosing cable on MSNBC from 8-9 pm. I have for the past year. It's the ONLY channel that is doing this. EVERY NIGHT. Am I alone?
October 21st, 2008 at 8:05 pmPalin is hiding in the plumbers crack.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:06 pmjte Says:
“We cannot flirt with this and now is not the time to experiment with, as Joe the plumber calls it, socialism.”
This from a woman whose state levied a windfall profits tax on oil companies and then redistributed the money to each Alaskan resident?
Sounds like she is the Socialist
October 21st, 2008 at 8:09 pmLet me go a step further...
Obama depends on the economic counsel of Warren Buffet, the richest man in the world and one who says he and others of his class should pay more in taxes...
Sarah 'Cuda listens to Joe the Plumber, a guy who makes 40K a year, owes back taxes and crows that any tax increase is "socialism".
I think I know who I'd rather see advising the president...
October 21st, 2008 at 8:10 pmI am so close to actually screaming that Palin is a stupid C*... but I won't. I'm a lady.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:11 pmSo McPalin decided to base its final stretch economic strategy on the uneducated perceptions of an unlicensed tax dodging wacko from Toledo. Wow. Good thing you guys picked a plumber as your mascot because your campaign is totally in the crapper.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:13 pmWho Lied Today? Says:
Palin is hiding in the plumbers crack.
Joe gives new meaning to the plumbers' term, pipe dope.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:13 pmmocha Says: I’m confused..hasn’t it be established that “Joe the Plumber” would actually benefit more from Obama’s plan. Am I missing something?
Yes it has, but the beauty of being a republican is that reality is what you make it. It's like being two years old again, only instead of toy cars and dolls, you can play with armies, nukes and a $13 trillion economy.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:14 pmDollars to donuts that Palin doesn't even know what constitutes socialism. The term has become another code word for Republicans to say "not us".
October 21st, 2008 at 8:14 pmpalinism (n.) The art of talking in circles without actually saying anything meaningful.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:14 pmpalinism (n.) Also a disease of the lower digestive tract, cause by the ingestion of undercooked moose.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:19 pmbronzbootz
When I lived in Jacksonville using Comcast, MSNBC was moved to a channel that required a cable box. When I moved to St. Augustine Time Warner had the franchise and MSNBC was on the lower channel where I didn't need a converter. However, TW and Comcast traded some systems and I'm back to MSNBC on cable 185 and with frequent reception problems. Have tiling problems with Comedy Central at times also through the converter, but with no problems with a straight feed on channel 65 on a TV with no converter.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:19 pmshe's a drag.
h/t tpm & nbc/wsj.
*
thank you.
*
October 21st, 2008 at 8:20 pmSaint Augustine Says:
I dont know what kind of cable arrangement my apartments have. But, it has happened at two different locations (I'm on a college campus and move from year to year). It could simply be an isolated incident.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:28 pmPalin wouldn't know socialism if it bit her in her lovely, voluptuous a**!
...and f(uk Joe the Plumber.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:37 pmIt seems to me that they have a form of socialism in Alaska. Don't they give that yearly payment to every man woman and child in Alaska no matter if they have worked and earned an income. She imposed a tax on the oil companies and gave an extra $1,200 to every person in Alaska. Sounds a lot like redistributing the income to me.
I will be sooooo happy when Sarah Palin is just a footnote in history.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:39 pmOff topic but:
Bernanke Endorses Obama
This is much bigger than Powell endorsment. This was gw bush's apppointee.....now that's funny.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:40 pmjte Says:
“We cannot flirt with this and now is not the time to experiment with, as Joe the plumber calls it, socialism.”
This from a woman whose state levied a windfall profits tax on oil companies and then redistributed the money to each Alaskan resident?
$hit, and I thought I was being so clever and only find you beat me to it. Oh well, it's a good talking point for the left, don't you think?
October 21st, 2008 at 8:42 pmThey keep hiding behind a guy who finally admitted Obama was right? How does that work? And, honestly, who cares? This is a random guy who didn't totally understand the policies of either party and now we're supposed to look to him for guidance?
I hope they're paying him something for this.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:43 pmThe desperation of the Unstable/Unable ticket is thick and deep. These bozos are down to the stems and seeds with two weeks to go. There is nothing left in the tank . . . only fumes and negative messages.
These two morons have seized upon Non-Joe the Psuedo-Plumber and they can't afford to let go. As Donny RumsFailed would say, "you dive into the sewer with the plumber you have; not the plumber you wish you had".
October 21st, 2008 at 8:49 pmFred Says:
Off topic but:
Bernanke Endorses Obama
This is much bigger than Powell endorsment. This was gw bush’s apppointee…..now that’s funny.
Now THAT IS funny! Poor McCain, just can't get a break, can he? Next thing you know Palin will be endorsing Obama.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:49 pmBoy, the WSJ is really pissed. But Bernanke only endorsed Obama's vision for stimulating the economy, not Obama for President. Even though I think that is what he was really doing. But he's a good little Republican and didn't want to jump ship totally in case the Republicans are able to steal the election.
Personally I don't think they are going to try to steal the election. All they are going to do is to try to poison the water to attempt to weaken Obama as President.
Can you imagine what is going to happen if the Republicans were to flip the votes and steal this election? There would be rioting in the streets and I'm sure that Obama would not let them get away with it.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:52 pmGL2814 Says:
Palin wouldn’t know socialism if it bit her in her lovely, voluptuous a**!
…and f(uk Joe the Plumber.
Palin voluptuous? Please... she's a rake with a mild rack. Nothing more. Nothin aginst the skinny ladies. I love you the same... unless you look like this.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:55 pmmargerine Says:
I hope they’re paying him something for this.
I read that several right wing blog sites have set up a donation site so that all the good neo cons can contribute to poor "Joe the Plumber" for all the angst that the Democrats have put him through.
Personally, if I was Joe, I would be suing the McCain campaign for using his name/likeness without his permission. I think he would be on solid ground there.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:55 pm"Joe" is not "Joe", he's Sam. "Joe", according to the State of Ohio, is not a "plumber". "Joe" does not, apparently, have the means to buy the business which he is afraid will put him in the highest tax bracket. Even if "Joe" had the means to buy the business he would not, in fact, end up in that highest tax bracket.
"Joe" is a shill. "Joe" is a scab. "Joe" is a liar. "Joe" is a fool.
Why are Chippy and Flippy allowed to keep citing this monumental fraud without question?
October 21st, 2008 at 9:03 pmRed baiting is a Republican cowards act. But its even more cowardly pathetic to not be woman enough to just say it outright and instead go hiding behind some two-bit rightwing "plumber"
Of course I seriously doubt Palin even understand the meaning of the word socialism.
October 21st, 2008 at 9:19 pmTo a lot of Americans and for a good 30 years or more "socialism" has equaled Communism, as practiced by the USSR, China and Cuba, and many Americans believe or assume that socialism is therefore inherently "anti-American".
Yet the federal government has enacted dozens of socialist programs from which these snot-for brains "real Americans" benefit every day as they have done for decades most notably in the form of rich states federal tax contributions that are then redistributed to poorer states, usually in the form of earmarks.
Medicare and particularly Food Stamps are also socialist programs.
A high school education is a socialist program.
Most of these "real Americans", having no idea what socialism ( because they aren't taught what it is and media hacks like Mark Halperin or even News anchors never even attempt to explain what it means) are therefore incapable of recognizing that they actually benefit from 'socialism'.
You want a universal health care system with cheap prescriptions that will never require you to go into debt or deplete your savings? Socialism provides that.
You want to go to college without going into debt? Socialism provides that.
You want everyone to pay their fair share? Socialism provides that.
I lived under extremely socialist governments for 15 years.
I got free milk and free food at school ( no lunch money needed, no bullying for lunch money!). My brother had open heart surgery which didn't cost my parents anything more than their usual 1 pound a week contribution to the NHS.
When I commuted to college, my bus and train fare was paid-for. I got discounts at major stores and at the theater, as a student. And my college tuition was ALL PAID-FOR.
All thanks to 'socialism'. All thanks to 'spreading the wealth'.
October 21st, 2008 at 9:23 pmpete in fairness to Sam Joe, is it possible that Ohio allowed plumber gophers to use lead solder longer than many other states?
October 21st, 2008 at 9:24 pmCould be, db. But that wouldn't explain why Bible Spice puts it on her cereal in the morning.
October 21st, 2008 at 9:27 pmAnother OT:
It appears that Bible Spice has been caught, again.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PALIN_FAMILY_TRAVEL?SITE=OKOKL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
October 21st, 2008 at 9:34 pmAfter this answer I doubt the reporter even tried to press Palin on what exactly makes Obama a socialist.
But here's what he should have done:
1) Ask Palin to define socialism.
2) Try not to laugh as Palin wrestles incoherently with this tough "gotcha question"
3) Explain to her what socialism means and how it doesnt apply to Obamas tax policies.
4) Ask governor Palin if she thinks its appropriate to rely on a plumbers opinion on whether your opponent is a socialist or not and then go touting his opinion as the truth without even doing some basic factchecking.
October 21st, 2008 at 9:35 pm"PS" means Palin's personal socialism, where the State of Alaska government is stuck with the bill for her children's travel expenses on events that the kids were not even invited to... See the brilliant Alaska mudflats blog for more details at //mudflats.wordpress.com/.
"Socialism" is great for Sarah and her kids, great for Alaskans (free thousands of dollars for all residents each year) and great for the Wall Street greedy corporate pigs (obscene bailout of $700B), but is bad for the rest of us... All we would get under a McLoon/SP regime would be more corporate fascism...
October 21st, 2008 at 9:42 pmShould this awful woman even use the word "socialism" when she's been charging the State of Alaska to ship her brood to the "first dudes" silly races? Should she screech about being such a good, self-sufficient, mother when she's been accepting state funds for the care of her daughters? Is there a brave lady out there, a Senator or Ambassador perhaps, who will just please punch the bimbo in the nose?
October 21st, 2008 at 9:48 pmPalin is desperate to be the despot. The folksiness is an act (see her address to that wacky cessationist convention); she declared her goal to be president as soon as she became governor; as her idea of VP is radical, there can be no question that she views the presidency as a despot would. She actually says she was vindicated in troopergate when that is the opposite of the truth. This is Bush only scarier. Not to mention Todd...
October 21st, 2008 at 9:51 pmgalmud : But here’s what he should have done:
1) "Governor Palin, define socialism."
Palin: "In what respect? Oh okay, I'll answer by saying that real Americans and the energy crisis ya know are also and then there's the terrorists and this is one hockey mom who knows how to ruffle feathers, you betcha, so to answer your media filtered gotcha question, we have an expression in Alaska, so there's that, also."
3) Explain to her what socialism means and how it doesnt apply to Obamas tax policies.
Palin: "I don't know which elitist terrorists you've been hanging out with but I can see Russia from my house so ah reckin' you're being just a teeny bit sexist there, ain't ya?"
4) Ask governor Palin if she thinks its appropriate to rely on a plumbers opinion on whether your opponent is a socialist or not and then go touting his opinion as the truth without even doing some basic factchecking.
Palin: "Well excuuuse me, mister man, but Joe the plumber is a representative of Jane the engineer and Molly the dental hygienist and Chuck the teacher and also, so you betcha."
See Galmud, it would be just like trying to stop moose from pooping in the woods.
October 21st, 2008 at 9:56 pmNEWS FLASH: Bullwinkel Moose (R-fantasyland) has said he will
October 21st, 2008 at 10:07 pmcross party lines and vote for Barak Obama, In a statement
Mr. Moose said "that b!tch shot my brother Leon!
hi lurker...
October 21st, 2008 at 10:21 pmI don't know who Leon is, but it's still funny! :)
Socialism: (Definition in context to US Economy) An economic system in which the basic means of production are primarily owned and controlled collectively, usually by government under some system of central planning.
Well, since we no longer produce anything, but money, didn't Bush just "socialize" our banks, putting them under the purview and control of the US Gov't (for a short time; yeah).
October 21st, 2008 at 10:32 pm5th Estate Says:
See Galmud, it would be just like trying to stop moose from pooping in the woods.
-
Still the reporter should make a point she should be ashamed of shes done. That she cant just go around pooping everywhere she feels like it. Indiscriminate shameless pooping is NOT acceptable behavior for a Vice President. And its certainly not acceptable for her to call people elitists just because they refuse to ignore all the steaming piles of poo shes made or even refuse to clean up her poo after her.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:34 pmgalmud...
Of course I agree with you. And critically the first question should not be "how do you define socialism" but indeed the directive "Define socialism". Then either she knows what socialism is or she doesn't, and if she doesn't then her use of the term is nonsensical and her utterances unvalid, by definition.
Over the past couple of years I've noticed the usual TV journalists consistently preface their questions with "What do you believe...? " instead of even "what do you think?" and never "what is, or how or why? Just what do you believe which of course allows the subject to say any damn thing they want with reason or rationale and then deny or change what they said later, as necessary.
October 21st, 2008 at 11:14 pmThis isn't the same kind of socialism of your state sucking from the federal teat now is it Sarah? Or the same kind of 'subsidizing' you request for your kids when you make up fake 'jobs' for them to do so that the state will pay for them when you are travelling on state business?.
What's that? I can't hear you Sarah?
Your right-wing buzzwords like 'socialism', 'Joe The Plumber', 'pro-America' must be like a euphoric drug to your brainless supporters. They are like a poison to people who can THINK.
October 21st, 2008 at 11:36 pmAnd I'm not going to call ImPalin a lying b!tch, but she sounds like one.
October 22nd, 2008 at 12:21 amGeebus Bronzbootz@42 Where'd you get that photo? Aushwitz?
October 22nd, 2008 at 12:23 am.
I'm not gonna call Sarah a separatist...
... Just because she sleeps with one.
.
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:35 amToo Dumb Too Late Winkykins uses socialism when she gives all the Alaskans a bit of the oil slick pie and lies about the functions her kids attended so the taxpayer gets the tab.
Yes, Winkykins, do tell us, what is socialism?
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:45 amSooner or later the American people will overcome their "fear and loathing" of socialism and realize that the autocratic socialism practiced in the Stalinist nations is not what socialism need be. An American socialism will be based on American traditions of political democracy and pluralism. It will enhance political democracy by eliminating the power of moneyed interests to determine who runs for office and is elected. It will extend social democracy by legislating universal heath care and make higher education affordable and available to all. And it will initiate economic democracy by making corporations truly public by placing representatives of the people and other stakeholders as controlling members on corporate boards.
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 amPalin is nearly BRAIN DEAD. Who gives a FLYING F U*K what "Joe the Plumber" thinks?
She is such an ignorant a s s hole!
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:59 amAnd I wouldn't call Palin stupid, except that I don't think she is capable of chewing gum and putting on her high heels or thick make-up at the same time.
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:04 am(With thanks and apologies to the late LBJ, whose statement about Gerald Ford I've just paraphrased.)
3 words:
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:24 amAlaska Permanent Fund
I am sick of "Joe the plumber" What about Geoff the GI or Mitch the Marine, or Nick the National Guardsman? Or is no one interested in what those "Average Joe's and Jane's" opinions are.
By the way why is it "Joe Six Pack and not Jill Six Pack" and why not "Jill The Plumber"
Who is wearing the panties in the McCain/Palin campaign anyway?
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:30 amI'm not going to call sarah a lying, bigoted, hate-filled, racist, self-loathing, hypocritical, narrow minded, uneducated, selfish, self-serving, thieving, moose wh0re...
but Elaine the hairdresser said, and she represents the common average woman, that she thinks Sarah's actions and policies support these things.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:51 amJoe the Plumber was a badly organized publicity stunt by the GOP. Most likely orchestrated by the Turd Blossom. And like a drunk redneck on the 4th of July, that firecracker went off in their face!
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:55 amI see that "socialist" has become the dirty word used by the Republicans this cycle. In the fifties, it was "communist" (along with "pinko", "red", and various others). In the eighties, it was "liberal". And now, it's "socialist" (and "Marxist" thrown in for good measure).
What do all these terms have in common? They are virtually NEVER defined accurately by the politicians who use them -- or if they are, it's with a definition not found in any dictionary, but made up on the spot to suit an agenda. They are always used as a pejorative to an audience made up of people who mostly don't know the literal meaning of the words, but come to understand the words carry a vague meaning of evil.
Why is socialism bad? Socialism in an extreme form (such as existed in totalitarian communist regimes) is undesirable by almost everybody's standards, but most extremism is. However, Obama's proposals don't come anywhere NEAR the level of socialism practiced by FDR when he came to office in 1933 during the Great Depression.
Does Palin know anything about Franklin Roosevelt? Does she know anything about the New Deal? Does she understand that it got our country during a really rough time? Does she understand that some of the programs from the New Deal (like Social Security) are with us today? Does she want to abolish Social Security?
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:57 amHere's a publicity stunt idea for the GOP:
Have Sarah Palin do a Playboy Magazine centerfold spread. Then sell the magazine to any takers, who in exchange cast their vote for McCain-Palin as payment for the special issue.
Whaddya think?!
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:59 am"spread the wealth around" that doesn't sound like socialism? Are you that mad?
Daniel ..... Toronto
Glad I don't have to vote.
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 amDidn't she take any pol-sci courses? Or her state government, american government high school classes? I know we were required to take state government and american government courses in high school.
October 22nd, 2008 at 12:38 pmMaybe this is good in that one of her kids will read all this stuff one day and realize and say, Mom you weren't very smart. And in that instant realize they want to be intelligent and go beyond what their parents are and become someone who is an American dream of success, intelligence, .....