The Big Divide

I saw the post on the Read My Lipstick Network blog about the liberal on-line pub writing about Steve Maloney, Team Sarah and our Network. I clicked the link and went wandering around the website. (http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_fundamentalist_120308)

A few things really jumped out at me as I read some of the headlines and bits of the articles.

There are some mean, mean people in this world.

I just don't find that on the "right". Maybe it's there on the extreme fringes with some of the more radical groups. I haven't found any of those sites and haven't gone looking for them so may never come across them! On occasion I'll find a comment from someone on "our" side of the divide that I think crosses the line, but they are so obviously kooks that it's hard to take them seriously.

However, when I hit the Daily Koz, this new one that I've never heard of that RMLN was mentioned in, the Huffington Post and similar they seethe with hatred, snobbery, irritation and nastiness.

It's my way or the rocky highway with a boot to your butt to make you go faster.

The other thing that struck me is just how divided our country has become. There is no middle ground.

I'm not giving up my religion and I'm not going to deny it just to make happy with the libs.

I'm not going to say it's OK to kill babies just to make happy with the lib left.

They're not going to give in when it comes to trying to shut me up about God and my beliefs.

They're not going to be happy until everyone believes that it's OK to kill babies in the womb to make life easier for some women.

Most of us believe like Reagan that it's best to come from a position of strength not weakness.

Most of us know it's impossible to negotiate with terrorists and extremists.

We also know that spewing hatred at those who disagree with us isn't going to build any bridges. So why don't they understand that?

I don't know how to fix this one. I have many friends who are libs and we get along just fine. We agree to disagree. However, they don't have a problem with my belief system and they don't feel the need to make me deny God. They wouldn't dream of putting up a sign denying God next to a Nativity scene (like they're doing in the state of Washington). We don't talk about abortion as we know neither of us is going to convince the other to change their mind. No vitriol, no hatred. We've found a middle ground and I think of them as "true" liberals, not the hate mongers that wear that label as a badge of dishonor.

However, we're in a small town and the vast majority, including the libs, still cling to their guns and religion. Most have a respect for other points of view and don't see the need to slash and burn.

We're an aberration I think, based on what I see in the media, what I read on the self-designated liberal blogs and websites and what I see on television.

The divide is reaching into middle America, too, I think. It's probably just a matter of time before my liberal and conservative friends and I are sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch commiserating about the good old days when people could disagree with honesty and respect.

Obamadummies...

(Thanks Steve M. for send via email!)

This is from Jack Kelly's column in last Sunday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It makes some critical points, and I hope you'll forward it widely. (http://post-gazette.com/forum/)

A Zogby poll released last week casts doubt on the notion it's conservatives who reflect stupidity and ignorance. Mr. Zogby asked a dozen questions of 512 Obama supporters, 55 percent of whom have college degrees.

.• 94 percent correctly identified Sarah Palin as the candidate with a pregnant teenage daughter;
• 87 percent identified Ms. Palin as the candidate who said she "could see Russia from her house;"

• 86 percent identified Ms. Palin as the candidate associated with a $150,000 wardrobe purchased by her political party;

• 81 percent chose John McCain as the candidate who was unable to identify the number of houses he owned;

• 81 percent knew it was Barack Obama who said the government should redistribute the wealth;

• 53 percent knew it was Joe Biden who predicted that Mr. Obama would be tested by a generated international crisis during his first six months as president;

• 44 percent knew that it was Mr. Obama who started his political career in the home of two former members of the Weather Underground;

• 43 percent knew that Democrats controlled both the House and Senate

;• 28 percent knew it was Mr. Biden who had to quit an earlier campaign for president because he plagiarized a speech;

• 23 percent knew it was Mr. Obama who claimed to have campaigned in 57 states;

• 17 percent knew that it was Mr. Obama who won his first election by getting all of his opponents removed from the ballot

;• 12 percent knew it was Mr. Obama who said his energy policies likely would bankrupt the coal industry.

Only 46 percent of the Obama supporters were able to answer half or more of the questions correctly.

Apart from the appallingly low percentage of Obama supporters who could answer the basic civics question of which party controls Congress, the results reflect more what the news media chose to emphasize in their reporting than the awareness of respondents.

What the news media chose to emphasize was trivia, slanted against the Republicans in general, Ms. Palin in particular, not all of which was true. (Ms. Palin never said she "could see Russia from her house." That quote came from Tina Fey, who impersonated her on "Saturday Night Live.")

That Sen. Obama said his energy policy would bankrupt the coal industry is rather more important than Ms. Palin's wardrobe, but if the news media chose not to report it (and most did not), then the Obama supporters polled can't be blamed for not knowing it.

The poll was commissioned by conservative documentary filmmaker John Ziegler ("The Path to 9/11"). Random post-election interviews he'd done with a dozen Obama supporters indicated a deplorable lack of knowledge, and he wanted to see how widespread it was.

Liberals assert that if McCain-Palin supporters were asked the same questions, they'd display a comparable level of ignorance. Mr. Ziegler has a wager for them. If a liberal commissions the same poll of McCain supporters and they do not score significantly better than the Obama supporters did, then Mr. Ziegler will pay the cost of the poll.

But if McCain-Palin supporters do significantly better, then the liberal must reimburse Mr. Ziegler for the cost of the original poll. I doubt Mr. Ziegler will get any takers.

Jack Kelly is a columnist for the Post-Gazette (jkelly@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1476).

Let Sarah be Sarah!

It is so clear that some of the guys who think they know everything are holding the real Sarah hostage! I've seen her past stuff, before she hit the VP trail. I saw her stuff before they finally got to her.

Jeez, we don't care if she doesn't know everything there is to know about foreign affairs, she'd the veep for goodness sake, not the top guy. She knows more than a heck of a lot of our past Presidents did when they took office. All she has to say is that's John McCain's job and I'll be ready by the time we take office in January. She has from November 4th until January 1 to get up to snuff on all the stuff.

She's probably putting a ton of pressure on herself to try and be the whiz kid, too. She's used to excelling in everything she does and this is a big chunk of change to handle. Everyone else who has ever run for veep or for prez has thought about it for years and they've studied the issues knowing where they were hoping to end up someday. Sarah Palin hasn't had that luxury and so she's not up on every little stupid nuance or item that the press wants to trip her up on.

The ditsy Kathleen Parker on National Review should know she's now the darling of the liberal media for doing what they've wanted conservatives to do all along, which is to jump on Sarah Palin. Finally they have someone who's willing to jump ship on the conservative side and to me it's traitorous. Think what you want in the privacy of your home, but no conservative journalist should ever give the liberals something that inflammatory to crow about deliberately.

We don't want perfection, we want honesty. We don't mind someone who has a lot to learn. If Kathleen Parker had been thinking straight she'd realize that Palin has more experience than Barack Obama and has made fewer gaffs than Joe Biden.

John McCain's dudes and dudettes need to leave Sarah alone and let her be Sarah.

Joe Biden's Double-back, twisty face with Katie I Love Biden Couric

So Joe Biden's biggest "problem" is that his mouth gets ahead of his mind at times. The Obamazombies call it "honesty", refreshing honesty. They've given it a name "bidenism". So what does Obama try to do with that "honesty"? He perverts it.

That is if you beleive in Biden's honesty in the first place . If George W. Bush made statements and gaffs like Biden it wouldn't be called refreshing honesty...

Katie Couric asked Joe Biden in lib-speak about the horrible ad Obama put out about John McCain not being able to do Rubic's Cubes and use a computer. (Note to those who don't know about the ad --- John McCain's war injuries don't allow him to type or do some of those actions. The ad made fun of him.)

Biden rightfully said initially that it as "terrible" and he didn't have anything to do with it, wouldn't have or something along those lines. There's the honesty. Then Katie asks another question about Obama approving the ad and Biden realizes what his mouth has just done.

He starts to do his double-back, about face, try to save face sputtering. You can see in his eyes that he realizes he has just gotten himself caught in another deep, deep hole so he starts spinning, goes on to attack

Later he released an official statement saying he was wrong. He stands by the ad, he hadn't seen it at the time he talked about it... It's the statement the Obama campaign made him put out. It's posted below. One comment on the so-called negative ads --- there are groups keeping tabs on who's put out more negative ads and who's stretching the truth the most and guess what? Obama's winning that particular race.

The body language and touching was something I found interesting. At one point Katie reaches over and lightly pushes Biden's leg in a jokingly chiding manner. Anyone think she'd be so chatty and cuddly cute friendly with John McCain or Sarah Palin? She's going to interview Sarah Palin so that one should be interesting. Think she's going to call her girl-friend?

Here's some info I found on the Internet about the interview (just the top 3 or 4 on Google's list when I put in "biden statement couric ad" while looking for the official statement (which I've posted at the end):

Couric Has Cushy Chat with Biden, Will She Be as Warm with Palin ...
Sep 22, 2008 ... COURIC: Did Obama approve that ad? He said he did, right? BIDEN: The answer is I don't think ... Katie's first statement to Average Joe was. ...newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2008/09/22/couric-has-cushy-chat-biden-will-she-be-warm-palin - 79k - 10 hours ago - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Media Matters - Couric didn't challenge McCain's false claim that ...
Aug 24, 2008 ... John McCain, Katie Couric did not challenge McCain's false claim that Sen. ... BIDEN: I think I stand by the statement. [end video clip] ...mediamatters.org/items/200808240008 - 26k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Behind The Scenes With Joe Biden, CBS News Anchor Katie Couric ...
I just think that was- COURIC: Did Obama approve that ad? ... Politico - Joe Biden offered perhaps his most off-message statement yet since being tapped as ...beltwayblips.com/story/behind_the_scenes_with_joe_biden_cbs_news_anchor_katie/ - 48k - 10 hours ago - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Video - Biden: Obama ad attacking McCain "Terrible" - White House '08
Sep 22, 2008 ... Joe Biden, D-Del., distanced himself from an Obama-Biden TV ad. Katie Couric asked Biden about the "tone of the campaign" adding that "you ...beltwayblips.com/video/biden_obama_ad_attacking_mccain_terrible/ - 10 hours ago - Similar pages - Note thisMore results from beltwayblips.com »

Biden Deplores Own Campaign's Ad - September 23, 2008 - The New ...
Sep 23, 2008 ... "I thought that was terrible," Mr. Biden told news anchor Katie Couric after she made reference to the ad while asking about the tone of the ...www.nysun.com/national/biden-deplores-own-campaigns-ad/86380/ - 8 hours ago - Similar pages - Note this

Biden's official statement:

“I was asked about an ad I’d never seen, reacting merely to press reports. As I said right then, I knew there was nothing intentionally personal in the criticism of Senator McCain’s views which look backwards not forwards and are out of touch with the new economic challenges we face today. Having now reviewed the ad, it is even more clear to me that given the disgraceful tenor of Senator McCain’s ads and their persistent falsehoods, his campaign is in no position to criticize, especially when they continue to distort Barack’s votes on an issue as personal as keeping kids safe from sexual predators."