Palin Discussion [split]

[The Yosemite Bear]

Or ask Tina Fey to step in as Palin on the campaign trail if one was named McCain.

[SirNitram]

Link

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, touted by GOP presidential candidate John McCain as his expert on energy, seemed to have problems Thursday explaining whether the government bans oil exports — especially from her state's North Slope fields.

A questioner at a town hall-style meeting in Wisconsin said he had heard that at least 75 percent of the oil drilled in Alaska was being sold to China and said, if true, he would like to know why.

"No. It's not 75 percent of our oil being exported," Palin said, suggesting some of Alaska's oil, in fact, may be going abroad but not that much.

"In fact," she added, "Congress is pretty strict on, um, export bans of oil and gas especially."

No Alaska oil has been exported since 2004, and little if any since 2000, according to the Energy Information Administration and the Congressional Research Service.

And Congress has never imposed outright bans on oil exports. Congress prohibited exports of Alaska oil in 1973 when the Alaska oil pipeline was built. But that ban was lifted in 1996 when there were large volumes of Alaska oil coming down from the North Slope and U.S. demand was soft.

The Alaska ban has never been reinstated.

"It's been discussed recently as part of talk about drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf," said Bill Wicker, a spokesman for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. But he said there's been no active legislation that would reinstate the Alaska ban or any thought on Capitol Hill of banning other U.S. oil or natural gas exports.

Natural gas exports must be approved by the Energy Department under a 1938 law, although such authorization for gas shipments to Mexico, Canada and Japan have been granted for many years. The Energy Department recently indicated it is ready to renew authorization for shipping Alaska liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Japan.

There are no such restrictions when it comes to oil.

Between 1996 and 2004, about 95 million barrels of North Slope oil, roughly 2.7 percent of Alaska's production, was exported to South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan, according to the Energy Information Administration.

There have been little or no oil exports since 2000, according to the Congressional Research Service. The EIA said there have been no Alaska oil exports since 2004.

The United States exports a relatively small amount of oil and petroleum production as Palin acknowledged as part of her answer, which largely focused on the need for more domestic drilling.

"It's not a huge portion of any domestic supply being exported," Palin said toward the end of her response, and seemed to contradict her earlier view that Congress bans exports.

Last year, the United States exported 523 million barrels of petroleum products, of which only a small amount was crude oil. That year it imported more than 4.7 billion barrels of oil and oil products.

The United States exported 822 billion cubic feet of natural gas, almost all by pipeline to Canada and Mexico, and a small amount of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Japan and Mexico in 2007, according to the EIA.

I'm starting to really wonder if this thread will hit the 50 mark.

[Ender]

I'm starting to really wonder if this thread will hit the 50 mark.

Allow me to aid that quest with a few NSFW links

Huff Po on "Nailin Paylin"

Fleshbot on the set of "Nailin Paylin"

More shots from "Nailin Paylin"

Script excerpt from "Nailin Paylin"


Have a good morning gentlemen.

[Metatwaddle]

Or ask Tina Fey to step in as Palin on the campaign trail if one was named McCain.

Tina Fey's unqualified for such an important public office, but I'm pretty sure she'd be a much better VP than Palin.

[The Yosemite Bear]

hell she's shown more intellegence then bush or palin put together.

[TithonusSyndrome]

What is there that John Cleese can't comment on? Sarah Palin? Rupert Murdoch?

[The Yosemite Bear]

That's just because Cleese rocks so much. Also he used to be married to an American.

[SirNitram]

Are you a real American? Palin probably doesn't think so.

Link

In order to clarify comments GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin made last night at a Greensboro, N.C., fundraiser about it being in a "pro-America" area, the campaign issued a slightly more detailed version of the pool report that came out yesterday.

The upshot? Washington, D.C., is neither "real America" nor "pro-America." Other parts of the nation? It's unclear, but if you live in a small town, you're probably patriotic from Palin's point of view.

"We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe" -- here the audience interrupted Palin with applause and cheers -- "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation."

She continued: "This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."

In an e-mail, Palin spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt emphasized that the Alaska governor was not insulting D.C., she was merely highlighting the virtues of far-flung cities and towns across the nation.

"She was reinforcing the message that the best of our America isn't confined to our nation's capitol," Schmitt wrote.

More GOP fetishizing of rural places. Which the media happily helps with.

[General Zod]

What a cunt. I suppose this makes me not a real American then.

[Max]

Who wants to be the GOP version of 'real american'. Not I.

[Count Chocula]

Zod, if you want the t-shirt you can ask these guys:


I'm thinking of a t-shirt that says "I'm from a pro-America area of this great nation" with the Palin wink image, natch!

[apocolypse]

More GOP fetishizing of rural places. Which the media happily helps with.

Well, I guess that means us big city folk aren't real Americans. I guess no one that lives in an urban area has any kindness or goodness, or also serves in the armed forces, or teaches kids or works in any sort of industry. Stupid bitch.

I wasn't a big fan of her ersatz "country goodness" to begin with, and she's just managed to fall even lower down the pole.

[The Yosemite Bear]

hmmm, right now I live in a national park, surrounded by small redneck communities. She would be supprised to see all the wiccans, greens, and bring our troops home types in the area.

[Aratech]

Careful, there. The rapid exposure to actual reality might cause her head to explode, and oh my, what a mess that would make.

[The Yosemite Bear]

hmmm, that sounds almost as fun as sending PETA's leadership to the Aussie Outback...

come on, can't you just picture Bill Maher and the former model chick trying to teach spiders, crocs, and Dingos "Ethics"?

[Aratech]

hmmm, that sounds almost as fun as sending PETA's leadership to the Aussie Outback...

come on, can't you just picture Bill Maher and the former model chick trying to teach spiders, crocs, and Dingos "Ethics"?

Ahh, yes, PETA and militant vegan types crack me up (no offense meant to moderate vegans who may be reading this). I was once able to get someone who was a combination of the two to nearly have a stroke by pointing out, coolly and calmly, that from a natural POV, the Human, while omnivorous, has the construction of a predator (canines, prominent forward facing eyes, large brain, etc,etc) and thus the consumption of meat was a natural thing for us.

I suspect pointing out similar logical holes in Palin's ideology will result in a similar effect. Shame no one's got the balls to do it on live national television.

[SirNitram]

Careful, there. The rapid exposure to actual reality might cause her head to explode, and oh my, what a mess that would make.

Not that much. Some skull fragments. It's not like there's a brain in there.

[Aratech]

Careful, there. The rapid exposure to actual reality might cause her head to explode, and oh my, what a mess that would make.

Not that much. Some skull fragments. It's not like there's a brain in there.

I was referring more to individuals near her person. Being hit by high velocity bone fragments would probably not be present, especially since I believe that all the air in her head woudl probably make it fly apart faster.

[Aratech]

Ghetto edit: Gah! present=pleasant. My apologies.

[SirNitram]

At long, long last, we are in an era when Democrats hit back on this shit:

Link

(CNN) -- Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden ripped into recent comments by his Republican counterpart that suggested that some places in the U.S. are more "pro-America" than others.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told a fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Thursday night:

"We believe that the best of America is in the small towns that we get to visit, and in the wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation," she said.

"This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans," Palin added.

On Friday, Palin clarified her comments.

"It's all pro-America. I was just reinforcing the fact that there, where I was, there's good patriotic people there in these rallies, so excited about positive change and reform of government that's coming that they are so appreciative of hearing our message, hearing our plan. Not any one area of America is more pro-America patriotically than others," she said.

At a rally in Mesilla, New Mexico, on Friday, Biden responded to those comments in a vociferous tone.

"I hope it was just a slip on her part and she doesn't really mean it. But she said, it was reported she said, that she likes to visit, 'pro-American' parts of the country," he said to loud boos.

"It doesn't matter where you live, we all love this country, and I hope it gets through. We all love this country," he said. "We are one nation, under God, indivisible. We are all patriotic. We all love our country in every part of this nation! And I'm tired. I am tired, tired, tired, tired of the implications about patriotism."

Meanwhile, the presidential campaigns were on the offensive Friday, with Sen. Barack Obama criticizing Sen. John McCain's health care plan and Palin scrutinizing Obama's ties to a community activist group.

The candidates and their running mates were spread out across the country, with Palin traveling to Ohio and Indiana; McCain in Florida; and Biden in New Mexico and Nevada.

Obama was in Virginia, a traditional Republican state that has not backed a Democrat for president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. But according to a CNN/TIME/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted October 11-14, Obama has opened up a 10-point lead over McCain, 53 percent to 43 percent.

At a campaign rally in Roanoke, Obama compared McCain's health care proposals to drug advertising.

"It's like those ads for prescription drugs. They start out and everybody's running in the fields and everybody's happy, then there's a little fine print that says, you know, the side effects they may include," Obama said to laughter from the crowd.

He also highlighted McCain's plan to tackle the Medicare system, which provides health benefits for senior citizens and others.

"It turns out, Sen. McCain would pay for part of his plan by making drastic cuts in Medicare -- $882 billion worth ... to pay for an ill-conceived, badly thought-through health care plan that won't provide more health care to people -- even though Medicare is already facing a looming shortfall," he said.

Shortly after Obama's speech, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement that unlike Obama's "risky plan," McCain's plans "do not punish struggling businesses with fines and taxes, and they certainly do not cut a single benefit for Medicare or Medicaid -- Obama is simply lying."

According to McCain's Web site, the Arizona senator wants to "reform the payment systems in Medicaid and Medicare to compensate providers for diagnosis, prevention and care coordination. Medicaid and Medicare should not pay for preventable medical errors or mismanagement."

McCain also returned to the campaign trail Friday, traveling to Florida -- a state the Republicans won in the last two presidential elections.

A CNN Poll of Polls calculated Friday shows Obama leading McCain by six points, 49 percent to 43 percent.

A fired-up McCain told a crowd in Miami that while Americans are facing hard times and the nation's financial system is in crisis, "the next president won't have time to get used to the office."

"He won't have the luxury of studying up on the issues before he acts. He will have to act immediately. And to do that, he will need experience, courage, judgment and a bold plan of action to take this country in a new direction," McCain said, referring to Obama.

Over the weekend, McCain will head to North Carolina, another state that Republicans have counted on in recent elections but is now considered a tossup.

Meanwhile, Palin, McCain's running mate, lashed out Friday at Obama's connection to the ACORN community activist group, which is under fire for alleged voter registration fraud.

The group -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- faces allegations of filing fraudulent voter registrations in Nevada and faces investigations in other states.

Palin, campaigning in the battleground state of Ohio, told a crowd in West Chester that Obama "won't tell you the full truth ... on his connections to ACORN ... under investigation for rampant voter fraud."

The FBI confirmed Tuesday that it is investigating ACORN's registration efforts. Palin accused the group of "rampant voter fraud," although technically it is being accused of voter registration fraud.

"In this election, especially here in Ohio, you're going to be asked to choose between a candidate who will not disavow a group committing voter fraud and a leader who will not tolerate it," Palin said.

Brian Mellor, an ACORN attorney in Boston, Massachusetts, said the group has its own quality control process and has fired workers in the past -- including workers in Gary, Indiana. But he said allegations that his organization committed fraud is a government attempt to keep people disenfranchised.

"We believe their purpose is to attack ACORN and suppress votes," he said.

Palin said her campaign is calling on Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, to release communications his campaign had with the group.

"[We] don't want to turn the Buckeye State into the ACORN state," she said to loud cheers.

Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor responded in a statement Friday, saying: "We have not worked with ACORN at all in the general election. Rather than make these false, desperate attacks, the McCain-Palin campaign should release an economic plan that actually helps the middle class instead of giving billions in tax cuts to big corporations."

Lies about ACORN and the like all in there, but it is nice to see a Dem finally respond to this 'You all are not like me, ergo, NOT AMERICAN'.

[Count Chocula]

Man. Attacks on the opponents' pasts are part and parcel of political campaigns, but if McCain and Palin don't hammer Obama's declared policy positions they're going to fall a lot more than just above the margin of error at which it currently stands (according to stats at this site). Didn't they study winning tactics from prior campaigns?

[Pablo Sanchez]

Didn't they study winning tactics from prior campaigns?

What a ridiculous question, of course they did. They tried to run a repeat of the 2000 and 2004 campaigns (both Bush victories in complete style-over-substance fashion), but because conditions in the electorate have changed, the effort is failing.

[Aratech]

Didn't they study winning tactics from prior campaigns?

The primary candidate is rapidly approaching senility (one could make a case that he is already there) and the secondary is an air headed bimbo I suspect my family mutt could outsmart (or at least, have a better grasp of reality). They probably studied, but either forgot, or refused to "Compromise on their (read:her) position."

[apocolypse]

Man. Attacks on the opponents' pasts are part and parcel of political campaigns, but if McCain and Palin don't hammer Obama's declared policy positions they're going to fall a lot more than just above the margin of error at which it currently stands (according to stats at this site). Didn't they study winning tactics from prior campaigns?

See, that's the thing. I don't give a fuck about ACORN. I don't give a fuck about Obama's alleged connection with Ayers or whatever. What I give a fuck about is someone being able to articulate what they're going to do about the economy, and about America's future. Obama has been able to do that, McCain hasn't imo. While there are a couple of things McCain has going that I like (nuclear plants ftw!), a key point or two doesn't do enough for me to rally behind you. And I think a lot of other people are feeling the same, which is why you see even traditionally red states starting to waiver.

[The Yosemite Bear]

note after what the republicans and diebold have done in the last 8 years, I find it hard to believe they can accuse others of rampant voter fraud.