Ineptitude
McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin for Vice President took place after his operatives nixed Tom Ridge and Joe Lieberman and after a rushed, half-assed vetting process which the McCain camp is now trying to correct:
A series of disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s choice as running mate, called into question on Monday how thoroughly Mr. McCain had examined her background before putting her on the Republican presidential ticket.
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Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state’s public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.
Aides to Mr. McCain said they had a team on the ground in Alaska now to look more thoroughly into Ms. Palin’s background. A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday, a day before Mr. McCain stunned the political world with his vice-presidential choice. The campaign was still calling Republican operatives as late as Sunday night asking them to go to Alaska to deal with the unexpected candidacy of Ms. Palin.
It seems that McCain is trying to emulate the Bush information-free decision making process. The Decider II. And of course, under the Bush method, you follow the fuck up with the lies:
Mr. McCain’s advisers said repeatedly on Monday that Ms. Palin was “thoroughly vetted,” a process that would have included a review of all financial and legal records as well as a criminal background check. A McCain aide said the campaign was well aware of the ethics investigation and had looked into it.
How thoroughly vetted was she? Judge for yourself:
“They didn’t speak to anyone in the Legislature, they didn’t speak to anyone in the business community,” said Lyda Green, the State Senate president, who lives in Wasilla, where Ms. Palin served as mayor.
Representative Gail Phillips, a Republican and former speaker of the State House, said the widespread surprise in Alaska when Ms. Palin was named to the ticket made her wonder how intensively the McCain campaign had vetted her.
“I started calling around and asking, and I have not been able to find one person that was called,” Ms. Phillips said. “I called 30 to 40 people, political leaders, business leaders, community leaders. Not one of them had heard. Alaska is a very small community, we know people all over, but I haven’t found anybody who was asked anything.”
The current mayor of Wasilla, Dianne M. Keller, said she had not heard of any efforts to look into Ms. Palin’s background. And Randy Ruedrich, the state Republican Party chairman, said he knew nothing of any vetting that had been conducted.
State Senator Hollis French, a Democrat who is directing the ethics investigation, said that no one asked him about the allegations. “I heard not a word, not a single contact,” he said.
And per today’s Los Angeles Times, Sarah Palin was a member of a secessionist political party which has for years attempted to obtain a plebescite which would allow Alaska to become an independent country:
Palin could face questions in on other facets of her past, such as her 1990s membership in the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that has pushed for more than 30 years to give Alaskans a vote on whether to secede from the union.
From the Alaskan Independence Party’s web site:
The Alaskan Independence Party’s goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four alternatives:
1) Remain a Territory.
2) Become a separate and Independent Nation.
3) Accept Commonwealth status.
4) Become a State.The call for this vote is in furtherance of the dream of the Alaskan Independence Party’s founding father, Joe Vogler, which was for Alaskans to achieve independence under a minimal government, fully responsive to the people, promoting a peaceful and lawful means of resolving differences.
A quote from Joe Vogler, the AIP’s self-described ‘founding father’: “I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions.”
Nice friends [add: and husband] ya got there, Sarah.
McCain picked an inexperienced politician who wants creationism taught in schools, who once aspired to have Alaska leave the very Union which, as Vice President, she would have to swear an oath to protect. This is clearly not the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln.
McCain’s campaign is claiming that its hands were tied because of the need for secrecy — which is pretty obvious spin and bullshit. Obama managed to vet several possible choices for Vice President. It seems Johnny McFuckup was more interested in keeping his selection a surprise than insuring his selection was wise. No doubt he will point out he went 5 and a half years without a maid, let alone a vice presidential candidate.
Ineptitude, thy name is John McCain.
But but but she’s been the commander of the Alaska National Guard so she has more foreign policy experience than Obama! Tucker Bounds says so: http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1829
Joe Vogler was found mysteriously dead in early 1993…THE SAME YEAR HILLARY KILLED VINCE FOSTER!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!!!!!!!ONE
Oh, sure. The New York Times has all the answers for vetting Republican running mates. Right. I love that Bumiller of the Times (and who sucks as a “reporter”; yes, I’ve read her work before) quotes Randy Ruedrich, the state Republican Party chairman. Palin filed a formal complaint against Ruedrich back in 2003/4, and Ruedrich was forced to pay a $12,000 fine (none of which shows up in Bumiller’s “news” item). Gee, maybe this guy has a grudge, don’t ya think?
The rest is bullshit, especially the part about the AIP. Sarah Palin has been a Republican since 1982.
Exit question: how long have you been afraid of women, and why are you so sexist?
By the way, did you see the one where the Obama campaign lied about Palin supporting Pat Buchanan? Or didn’t you see that in the New York Times?
Gee, maybe this guy has a grudge, don’t ya think?
Yeah, that’s it. Everybody has a grudge against Palin and is a lyin’ to the NY Times.
Exit question: how long have you been afraid of women, and why are you so sexist?
Did you think up that asinine question yourself, or did you have some help from a professional framer of moronic queries?
In fact, I’m not afraid of woman, but I am afraid of batshit-crazy religious kooks of any gender being 1st in line of succession to the White House.
The rest is bullshit, especially the part about the AIP. Sarah Palin has been a Republican since 1982.
She’s been registered as a Republican since 1982, but several AIP leaders have gone on record stating she was active in the AIP, attending a state party convention in 1994. She taped a message to the AIP a few months ago, and it is confirmed her husband was registered as a member until 2002.
But as you understand a free press, none of this should be news. . . .
I’m going to tie a few things together, so I hope you can follow.
Yeah, that’s it. Everybody has a grudge against Palin and is a lyin’ to the NY Times.
She’s been registered as a Republican since 1982, but several AIP leaders have gone on record stating she was active in the AIP, attending a state party convention in 1994.
In answer to the first statement of yours I highlighted, I would say that it isn’t all these people are “a lyin’”; I would say that the New York Times has already made shit up in order to smear McCain, and now Palin (except for that Ruedrich fella; the Times probably was accurate with him, and yet they failed to mention his connection to the Governor). The reason why I say they make shit up is because the New York Times story reports that same AIP connection as the Los Angeles Times story you linked to. Do you know who those papers cite as their source(s)? Nobody. On either paper. Turns out it was the liars at DailyKos who started this. Now, these are the pigs who tried to claim that Palin’s youngest child was her grandchild, which was debunked very quickly. So why would either the NYT or LAT use a lie from the Kos pricks?
And yes, you are afraid of women.
Do you know who those papers cite as their source(s)?
The sources are several officials of the AIP who have gone on record saying Palin was a member. Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, for one.
A little use of the Google and it ain’t hard to find. Heck, there’s a video on this blog of an AIP official stating that Palin was a member until she ran for mayor. So get off your fucking high horse. If you gave a fig about the truth instead of regurgitating whatever talking points have filtered down to you, you might have noticed some of this stuff without my having to point out what a vapid twit you are.
And yes, you are afraid of women.
No, but you are surely acting as if you’re dumb as snot.
The days when Wingnuts can deal with every piece of unpleasant news by attacking the messenger are long gone.
The sources are several officials of the AIP who have gone on record saying Palin was a member. Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, for one.
Those sources are bullshit. Who says? The leftist Mother Jones, that’s who. Apparently all those people being cited are…confused.
A little use of the Google and it ain’t hard to find.
No it isn’t.
The days when Wingnuts can deal with every piece of unpleasant news by attacking the messenger are long gone.
When the messengers (the NYT and LAT in this case) act like Obama PR firms masquerading as news organizations, then they are acting as part of the Obama campaign, not as a free press. Remember that slander is not protected speech under the 1st Amendment, even for these “news” organizations.
By the way, can you tell me one thing Barack Obama has ever done politically, or run? I mean other than a political campaign or run for President. I’m still waiting for these “news” organizations to tell us that.
Those sources are bullshit.
You’re making progress. Just a half an hour ago you didn’t acknowledge they existed, and claimed that Kos made them up.
Who says? The leftist Mother Jones, that’s who.
That isn’t what they said. You need to learn to read for content.
When the messengers (the NYT and LAT in this case) act like Obama PR firms masquerading as news organizations
What pathetic mewling. Whine about the messenger and try to obfuscate the facts.
not as a free press.
Weird as it might sound, the job of a free press is not to fluff McCain or overlook his fucked up decision making. Sorry.
Remember that slander is not protected speech under the 1st Amendment
I suspect what you know about slander and the 1st Amendment would barely fill a sheet of paper, judging by that tautology.
By the way, can you tell me one thing Barack Obama has ever done politically, or run? yadda yadda
You are now employing a logical fallacy known as “changing the subject.”
Weird as it might sound, the job of a free press is not to fluff McCain or overlook his fucked up decision making. Sorry.
You’re absolutely right, it isn’t. Then why are they doing it for Obama?
That isn’t what they said. You need to learn to read for content.
Hmmm. Let’s see if that’s true. You said, “The sources are several officials of the AIP who have gone on record saying Palin was a member. Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, for one.” Mother Jones says:
Palin never registered as an AIP member.
What explains the contradiction between Clark’s claim and the records? Dexter Clark, husband of Lynette and a vice chairman of the Alaska Independence Party, said that when his wife told reporters that Palin had been an AIP member she was “acting on information from Mark Chryson,” the party’s regional chair for Wasilla, Palin’s hometown.
So, the husband of the source, Lynette Clark, claims her source was someone named Mark Chryson. To continue:
Asked how Palin could have been a member, when state records did not indicate Palin ever registered as an AIP member, Chyrson, in an interview with Mother Jones, backed off his account. “What could have been the confusion—her husband was a member of the party. He was at the convention. She could have been considered—it might have been thought she was a member then.”
That pretty much confirms what I had said, the sources from the AIP were confused.
Just a half an hour ago you didn’t acknowledge they existed, and claimed that Kos made them up.
No, I claimed the NYT and the LAT made things up. I said that Kos lied. And if Kos didn’t lie, then the AIP lied, and Kos actively spread the lie without doing their own vetting. Or, what is more likely, the AIP is made up of some not so very smart people, and Kos is made up of morons.
So, I’ve proven that I’ve read this for content, showed that the NYT and LAT are shilling for Obama using Kos as a source for bullshit stories, and that the members of AIP can’t even keep their story straight with Mother Jones. And neither the NYT or the LAT have looked at the actual record of Barack Obama in the 18 or so months he’s been a candidate, yet know more, and created more bullshit, about Sarah Palin in their smears of her these last four days.
“By the way, can you tell me one thing Barack Obama has ever done politically, or run? yadda yadda”
You are now employing a logical fallacy known as “changing the subject.”
I see you can’t answer the question either.
You’re absolutely right, it isn’t. Then why are they doing it for Obama?
“I know you are but what am I” is no substitute for intelligent discourse.
That pretty much confirms what I had said, the sources from the AIP were confused.
Except that you said they were “bullshit” and claim that the whole thing was made up. At worst, they were unclear about whether Palin attended a nutball secessionist political gathering as a participant or as her husband’s guest. You can’t even track your own meandering, unfocused bullshit.
No, I claimed the NYT and the LAT made things up.
And we’ve now established that they didn’t make things up; you just stated the sources were confused.
So, I’ve proven that I’ve read this for content
If you call that “reading for content,” no wonder you don’t make any sense.
And neither the NYT or the LAT have looked at the actual record of Barack Obama in the 18 or so months he’s been a candidate
Are you out of your fucking mind, or did you miss Pastorgate? Or what about Obama’s half-brother a couple weeks ago? The whole idiotic flap about the putative dissing of the troops? Michelle Obama’s supposed ‘Merica hating?
Have you been in a coma, or are you just impervious to facts which won’t fit into your silly little narrative?
I see you can’t answer the question either.
It’s not that I can’t answer the question, it’s just that I don’t reward people like you who cannot argue without employing logical fallacy.
The NYT is now reporting the same thing, backing off the original story. Talk about “ineptitude” and an “information-free decision making process” to run the story in the first place. Kind of makes one wonder who is better at vetting anything, McCain or the NYT. My money is on McCain.
Are you out of your fucking mind,…
They were forced into these stories. Pastorgate: they buried it as soon as they could. His half-brother: I didn’t follow that bit. Dissing the troops: Obama has been doing that since he became a candidate, and now the MSM picked up on it? Michelle Obama: like Wright, the MSM was forced into this finally acknowledging the story, and buried it just as quickly. The MSM still doesn’t cover Ayers, or enough of his relationship with Rezko, or the fact that hasn’t reformed a thing since he got into office (Obama’s claim to fame), least of all corrupt Illinois politics (mostly Democrats, but also a lot of Republicans). The media covered up Obama’s lie about his abortion (infanticide) record and how he has voted on these things. If I know these things, and the media has yet to report on them, then I don’t think I’m the one who has been in a coma.
The NYT is now reporting the same thing, backing off the original story. Talk about “ineptitude” and an “information-free decision making process” to run the story in the first place. Kind of makes one wonder who is better at vetting anything, McCain or the NYT.
You’re confusing a source backing off part of a story with a man who made a half-baked decision with a half-assed background check. Palin still this year addressed a group of secessionist loonies her husband used to belong to and she used to hang with, still attended conventions in 1994 and 2006, still is a book-banning extremist who wants creationism taught in schools.
And the Times reporters actually talked to some people in the Alaska who were familiar with Republican politics and the Alaskan business community, unlike McCain who, after his handlers shot down Ridge and Joe, sort of snapped off a VP selection like he was taking a quick crap.
You can tell yourself McCain knew what he was getting into, but no one but the most avid Kool-Aid sippers of the Right believe that crap.
They were forced into these stories.
LOL. Who “forced” them into these stories? PLEEZE don’t tell me the dim bulbs of Right Blogostan!
Pastorgate: they buried it as soon as they could.
They “buried” it — after weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. Google only shows about 6,800,000 hits for Obama + Wright. If that wasn’t a joke, you’re a nutter.
The MSM still doesn’t cover Ayers, or enough of his relationship with Rezko, [a bunch of other wingnut memes]
All your whining about the EmEssEm amounts to your belief that the press should frame everything according to the paradigms of Wingnut assholes like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, and essentially function like Fox News as the propaganda wing of the Republican Party.
Talk about shooting the messenger. I called this a horseshit story, and it has been proven true. The sources were horseshit, the “reporting” was horseshit, and Kos was horseshit. And you still attempt to peddle this farce as legitimate, even though it’s been completely debunked. Palin hasn’t pushed creationism (more bullshit), and the rest of your reply is nothing more than a screed in reaction to being caught up in this garbage. Spare me your “outrage”.
Let me know if you plan on peddling Paul Kane’s horseshit “slashing funding” story that has already been fully debunked.
Talk about shooting the messenger. I called this a horseshit story, and it has been proven true.
Palin attended two AIP conventions, in 1994 and 2006. She also addressed them by video in 2008. Her husband was a member for most of the past decade. The AIP is a fringe seccessionist group, and she has definite ties to them, even if she never registered as a member.
That’s not bullshit, that’s just what’s proven to date. If Obama had addressed three conventions of the Nation of Islam — you fuckers would go apeshit, and rightly so. But since it’s a white secessionist movement, no biggie. . .
Palin hasn’t pushed creationism
She specifically said she favored teaching creationism in schools. Stick your head in the sand.
the rest of your reply is nothing more than a screed in reaction to being caught up in this garbage.
No, it’s a reply to your insipid whining about the EM ESS EM.
Let me know if you plan on peddling Paul Kane’s horseshit “slashing funding” story that has already been fully debunked.
I’ve already told you I don’t reward people who argue via logical fallacy, such as changing the subject.
[...] McCain camp is pushing back on the story of its ineptitude in vetting Sarah Palin, but the facts and sources keep hitting McOops in the face: Alaska Gov. [...]