CBS's interview of Palin

[julius]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/eveningnews/main4476173.shtml

Palin really whiffed on that one.

Couric: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

Palin: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie - that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.

Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.

me: But she doesn't...

Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

I don't think it matters what you think of Couric, I think that interview shows how poorly prepared Palin is. She'll try to find some? You're running for VP lady, not den mother.

I'm not saying I'd be able to answer those questions better (it's doubtful I could. In fact, I know I couldn't). She dodged the question, and in one case, repeated almost the same answer to a question (the first one).

(CBS) When CBS News anchor Katie Couric sat down for an exclusive interview with vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin Wednesday, she focused on the economy - but also addressed reports that the lobbying firm of Sen. John McCain's campaign manager received payments from the controversial mortgage giant Freddie Mac until last month. Couric asked for her reaction to that.


Sarah Palin: My understanding is that Rick Davis recused himself from the dealings of the firm. I don't know how long ago, a year or two ago that he's not benefiting from that. And you know, I was - I would hope that's not the case.

Katie Couric: But he still has a stake in the company so isn't that a conflict of interest?

Palin: Again, my understanding is that he recused himself from the dealings with Freddie and Fannie, any lobbying efforts on his part there. And I would hope that's the case because, as John McCain has been saying, and as I've on a much more local level been also rallying against is the undue influence of lobbyists in public policy decisions being made.

I understand not knowing. But I'm not sure she didn't know, because if she DID know, she surely couldn't and wouldn't admit it.

Is anyone else disappointed that Biden hasn't been interviewed for a while either? Come on Joe, put up or shut up!

 

[PapaG]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/eveningnews/main4476173.shtml

Palin really whiffed on that one.



I don't think it matters what you think of Couric, I think that interview shows how poorly prepared Palin is. I'm not saying I'd be able to answer those questions better (it's doubtful I could. In fact, I know I couldn't). She dodged the question, and in one case, repeated almost the same answer to a question (the first one).



I understand not knowing. But I'm not sure she didn't know, because if she DID know, she surely couldn't and wouldn't admit it.

Is anyone else disappointed that Biden hasn't been interviewed for a while either? Come on Joe, put up or shut up!

Rick Davis has no stake in the company. He divested in 2006. Katie Couric is reading DailyKos talking points.

 

[julius]

Rick Davis has no stake in the company. He divested in 2006. Katie Couric is reading DailyKos talking points.

The NY Times is dailykos?

And even if he hasn't been paid by them since 2006, doesn't it seem a bit odd that someone who's against lobbyists had one of the biggest lobbyists for Fannie and Freddie in his campaign?

 

[PapaG]

The NY Times is dailykos?

And even if he hasn't been paid by them since 2006, doesn't it seem a bit odd that someone who's against lobbyists had one of the biggest lobbyists for Fannie and Freddie in his campaign?

Pretty much. McCain's response is that Davis divested from the company in 2006. The NYT wrongfully claims that he was paid up until last month.

No surprise from the rag that brought us Jayson Blair.

 

[mook]

Is anyone else disappointed that Biden hasn't been interviewed for a while either? Come on Joe, put up or shut up!

I think Biden has been getting a pass on national interviews mostly because everybody's seen him a million times. I mean, I can think of at least three Sunday morning shows he's been on in the last year. He's kind of the default "Democrats foreign relations guy" on most subjects.

I would like to see him in more interviews, however, because I think he's actually the true maverick in this campaign. He doesn't speak to the same speech he's given for a decade like Obama. He doesn't pander to the base like McCain when it's expedient. He's not a rightwing talking point rubber stamp like Palin.

The big knock on Biden is that he'll say whatever he wants, regardless of whatever script the smart people in the room put in front of him. It's why he's always failed as a presidential candidate, but it also makes him an interesting interview. And it's why he's the only real maverick in this race.

 

[PapaG]

I think Biden has been getting a pass on national interviews mostly because everybody's seen him a million times. I mean, I can think of at least three Sunday morning shows he's been on in the last year. He's kind of the default "Democrats foreign relations guy" on most subjects.

I would like to see him in more interviews, however, because I think he's actually the true maverick in this campaign. He doesn't speak to the same speech he's given for a decade like Obama. He doesn't pander to the base like McCain when it's expedient. He's not a rightwing talking point rubber stamp like Palin.

The big knock on Biden is that he'll say whatever he wants, regardless of whatever script the smart people in the room put in front of him. It's why he's always failed as a presidential candidate, but it also makes him an interesting interview. And it's why he's the only real maverick in this race.

Biden was on with Katie Couric this week. He said that "FDR" went on "television" when the market crashed in 1929. Couric sat there with a blank look on her face. The only problem was that FDR wasn't President and that the television hadn't been invented. Imagine if Sarah Palin had said such a ridiculous thing.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/biden-fdr.html

And last night, in an interview with “CBS Evening News,” Biden misspoke when he told anchor Katie Couric that today's leaders should take a lesson from the history books and follow former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's response to a previous national financial crisis.

Declared Biden: “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened.'”

What's wrong with that, some might ask?

Well, for starters Republican Herbert Hoover was president when the stock market crashed in October 1929. Second, Roosevelt didn't take office until four years later. And, not to be picky, but there were also no televisions in use at the time. Radio was Roosevelt's favored medium.

I find it interesting that you'd call a partisan hack like Biden a "maverick", however, considering Biden was the guy who introduced "Borking" to the judicial process.

 

[Nikolokolus]

As a fiscal conservative (mostly) and a social liberal I really didn't feel any major stake in this election; I would have been happy with either McCain or Obama, but I was waiting on him to pick his running mate before I fully made up my mind, and this lady scares the hell out of me for her ignorance and apparent utter lack of preparedness for the stage that she is on.

I really only have a couple of core requirements for my president, be smarter and better than me, a lot smarter and better than me, and don't be an ideological nut, Palin gives me that queasy feeling in my stomach that George W. Bush gives me, where I see the lights are on but nobody's home, and with McCain's questionable health and advanced years I see a vote for him as a defacto vote for this numbskull.

This isn't even a politically motivated rant, I just want somebody in the whitehouse who I at least hope is moderately equipped to occupy the office and this woman being second in line ought to scare the holy hell out of people.

 

[PapaG]

As a fiscal conservative (mostly) and a social liberal I really didn't feel any major stake in this election; I would have been happy with either McCain or Obama, but I was waiting on him to pick his running mate before I fully made up my mind, and this lady scares the hell out of me for her ignorance and apparent utter lack of preparedness for the stage that she is on.

I really only have a couple of core requirements for my president, be smarter and better than me, a lot smarter and better than me, and don't be an ideological nut, Palin gives me that queasy feeling in my stomach that George W. Bush gives me, where I see the lights are on but nobody's home, and with McCain's questionable health and advanced years I see a vote for him as a defacto vote for this numbskull.

This isn't even a politically motivated rant, I just want somebody in the whitehouse who I at least hope is moderately equipped to occupy the office and this woman being second in line ought to scare the holy hell out of people.

I find it a bit puzzling that someone who is "queasy" over Palin's ideology, which she didn't force into Alaska in her "executive role", would support a top of the ticket candidate who is a follower of Saul Alinsky, who called Rev. Wright an "uncle" (and let him marry him and baptize his kids), and who worked for Bill Ayers at the Annenberg Foundation.

I question your knowledge of Barack Obama.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I find it a bit puzzling that someone who is "queasy" over Palin's ideology, which she didn't force into Alaska in her "executive role", would support a top of the ticket candidate who is a follower of Saul Alinsky, who called Rev. Wright an "uncle" (and let him marry him and baptize his kids), and who worked for Bill Ayers at the Annenberg Foundation.

I question your knowledge of Barack Obama.

I'm queasy over her apparent ignorance, I never said anything about her ideology, I just said that ideology is one of the factors that I consider when looking at a candidate ... and I weight "smarts" more than I do political beliefs.

ps. and as a community development/urban planning minor I seriously question your knowledge of the work of Saul Alinsky and the IAF; he founded a mult-party, multi-ethnic organization that works to alleviate problems that face the poor ... and with my quaker upbringing I still can't seem to shake that bit in the bible that tells me that we should work to help the impoverished and disenfranchised (even if I don't necessarily believe in the Christian God, and Jesus' divinity anymore).

 

[PapaG]

I'm queasy over her apparent ignorance, I never said anything about her ideology, I just said that ideology is one of the factors that I consider when looking at a candidate ... and I weight "smarts" more than I do political beliefs.

OK, what do Obama's transcripts look like? We had Bush's, we had Gore's, we had Kerry's, we even have McCain's.

Where are Obama's transcripts?

 

[Nikolokolus]

OK, what do Obama's transcripts look like? We had Bush's, we had Gore's, we had Kerry's, we even have McCain's.

Where are Obama's transcripts?

Well he was Magna Cum Laude at Harvard Law ... or were you asking about transcripts of his speeches?

 

[PapaG]

I'm queasy over her apparent ignorance, I never said anything about her ideology, I just said that ideology is one of the factors that I consider when looking at a candidate ... and I weight "smarts" more than I do political beliefs.

ps. and as a community development/urban planning minor I seriously question your knowledge of the work of Saul Alinsky and the IAF; he founded a mult-party, multi-ethnic organization that works to alleviate problems that face the poor ... and with my quaker upbringing I still can't seem to shake that bit in the bible that tells me that we should work to help the impoverished and disenfranchised (even if I don't necessarily believe in the Christian God, and Jesus' divinity anymore).

Tells me all I need to know. I learned about Alinsky as well in college as a pre-law student...14 years ago. Then I learned on my own.

Rules for Radicals takes a different meaning with experience and stepping outside the academic echo chamber.

 

[PapaG]

Well he was Magna Cum Laude at Harvard Law ... or were you asking about transcripts of his speeches?

j

No, wondering what his grades were and why he transferred to Columbia after visiting Pakistan in 1981.

Answer the question.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Tells me all I need to know. I learned about Alinsky as well in college as a pre-law student...14 years ago. Then I learned on my own.

Rules for Radicals takes a different meaning with experience and stepping outside the academic echo chamber.

Actually I'll bet that doesn't tell you all you need to know about me, but hey I wouldn't expect anything less on a message board.

 

[PapaG]

Actually I'll bet that doesn't tell you all you need to know about me, but hey I wouldn't expect anything less on a message board.

But you are learning about Alinsky in college!

Seriously, if you don't understand that your college education, especially in liberal arts/sociology, wasn't biased, I can't help you.

Read Rules for Radicals, then let's discuss further. It's a hard find though, because it is out of print and is being hidden. Powell's had one the last time I checked, however.

 

[Nikolokolus]

But you are learning about Alinsky in college!

Seriously, if you don't understand that your college education, especially in liberal arts/sociology, wasn't biased, I can't help you.

Read Rules for Radicals, then let's discuss further. It's a hard find though, because it is out of print and is being hidden. Powell's had one the last time I checked, however.

I'm familiar with the Alinsky method, and some of the history associated with him, and I think his approach has some flaws, but his call for grassroots, community involvement does actually work ... and in practice I've already engaged in two six-month internships working for organizations that deal with REAL people in REAL neighborhoods dealing with REAL problems (most notably Lents in outer SE Portland), and I'm not some fresh-faced 19 year old douchebag fresh out of high-school getting everything handed to me through a book or professor's lecture (I'm a 32 year old Scottish-American asshole instead) I worked as a paramedic in Los Angeles and Las Vegas for 7 years before getting burned out. But a lot of the problems that I saw first hand in truly impoverished communities prompted me to pursue something where I could actually be proactive, rather than reactive (cleaning up blood, and patching holes).

And for the record my degree is a B.S. in Geography (GIS), I was persuing a degree in civil engineering before I decided to shift focus into something a little different and more "satisfying" than sitting at a desk doing nothing but crunching numbers all day long (although GIS has a fair amount of that), I'm very much more interested in spatial analysis, statistics, and economics than a lot of fluffy, liberal arts, and sociolgy crap (and yes, there is a fair amount of that in college).

 

[Stepping Razor]

j

No, wondering what his grades were and why he transferred to Columbia after visiting Pakistan in 1981.

Can you fill me in on what is implied here? (Not asking contentiously, I am truly curious.) I don't spend a lot of time in the right-wing echo chamber so I have no idea what this refers to, but I'm very curious what transgression is being alleged. Mysterious college transfer after visit to mysterious Muslim country... what does it mean?

SR

 

[PapaG]

Can you fill me in on what is implied here? (Not asking contentiously, I am truly curious.) I don't spend a lot of time in the right-wing echo chamber so I have no idea what this refers to, but I'm very curious what transgression is being alleged. Mysterious college transfer after visit to mysterious Muslim country... what does it mean?

SR

I'm not in a "right-wing echo chamber", but I do know that Obama traveled into Pakistan in 1981 when it was not legal to do so on a US passport.

I'm not "alleging" anything. I am relaying information that is clearly not as important as Sarah Palin's latest white-trash escapade.

 

[Nikolokolus]

j

No, wondering what his grades were and why he transferred to Columbia after visiting Pakistan in 1981.

Answer the question.

Can you take that blinding white light out of my eyes first?

But Seriously what is the implication? Is Columbia University a hotbed of Islamo-fascism or something? And as for his grades, transferring from Occidental college to Columbia, I'm guessing they weren't awful, since he was able to go from Columbia to Harvard, and those grades would have followed him.

Maybe Obama is just the lucky recipient of favoritism and minorty quotas and never deserved the chance to go to a good university or college?

 

[PapaG]

I love how all the Obamaniacs just gloss over Joe Biden's FDR/TV boneheaded response.

Echo chamber, anyone?

 

[PapaG]

Can you take that blinding white light out of my eyes first?

But Seriously what is the implication? Is Columbia University a hotbed of Islamo-fascism or something? And as for his grades, transferring from Occidental college to Columbia, I'm guessing they weren't awful, since he was able to go from Columbia to Harvard, and those grades would have followed him.

Maybe Obama is just the lucky recipient of favoritism and minorty quotas and never deserved the chance to go to a good university or college?

How did Obama get into Pakistan in 1981. Do the research on the history of traveling to that country as a US citizen, major/minor.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I'm not in a "right-wing echo chamber", but I do know that Obama traveled into Pakistan in 1981 when it was not legal to do so on a US passport.

I'm not "alleging" anything. I am relaying information that is clearly not as important as Sarah Palin's latest white-trash escapade.

White-trash escapade? You're losing us. The Couric interview isn't some kind of tawdry Jerry Springer episode, where she came on camera to talk about her cheating husband sleeping with her sister.

 

[Nikolokolus]

How did Obama get into Pakistan in 1981. Do the research on the history of traveling to that country as a US citizen, major/minor.

It clearly matters more to you than it does to me, pre-law.

 

[PapaG]

White-trash escapade? You're losing us. The Couric interview isn't some kind of tawdry Jerry Springer episode, where she came on camera to talk about her cheating husband sleeping with her sister.

It's not like she said "FDR" went on "television" when the Great Depression hit in 1929, right?

 

[PapaG]

It clearly matters more to you than it does to me, pre-law.

Here come the insults. I remember when I was in college...

 

[MARIS61]

Rick Davis has no stake in the company. He divested in 2006.

Nonsense. They own him and everyone he touches.

 

[PapaG]

Nonsense. They own him and everyone he touches.

JIm Johnson? Anyone???

 

[Nikolokolus]

It's not like she said "FDR" went on "television" when the Great Depression hit in 1929, right?

You're right, she's awesome and clearly well prepared to be interviewed, and has lots of really insightful things to say.

I'm not saying Obama/Biden is the answer to all that ails this country, but if you can sit and watch that Palin interview and not be at least a little concerned about her overall fitness to assume the role of president, should the unthinkable happen and McCain die in office, then I don't even know what to think.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Here come the insults. I remember when I was in college...

Oh please, pretty late to claim the high road when you threw out the Major/minor comment, but yeah I admit that my retort was pretty lame.

I'm happy to stick to the issues.

 

[PapaG]

Oh please, pretty late to claim the high road when you threw out the Major/minor comment, but yeah I admit that my retort was pretty lame.

I'm happy to stick to the issues.

Me too. How about that FDR statement by Biden?