****
After class, I have glanced at the news and a couple of interesting notes on the blogs. I wonder if the cool weather outside is sign of hell freezing over, because Dr. Laura is furious about how Palin is managing family and politics. Just not what I would have expected. So many conservatives have just switched how they evaluate women and family that I expected all of them to.
And Byron York (not a liberal) echoes what many of us liberals have asked:
“If the Obamas had a 17 year-old daughter who was unmarried and pregnant by a tough-talking black kid, my guess is if that they all appeared onstage at a Democratic convention and the delegates were cheering wildly, a number of conservatives might be discussing the issue of dysfunctional black families.”Instead, we are getting lectures about Palin's superior family skills, and the superiority of conservative Christians on family. Even when the women put their professional life ahead of their family. If a liberal does that, she is selfish and secular. If a conservative does it, she is self-less and deeply pious.
Sigh.
All signs point to the McCain camp blaming all their troubles on the "liberal media" and even spreading stories about the Palins to drum up sympathy among conservatives and disaffected Dems. Perhaps the definition of cynicism, but I have come to expect that from this crop of Repubs. Joe Klein pushes back, and points out just how bizarre this is for someone like McCain who used to enjoy the full support of the media, or what Chris Matthews called "his base."
***
Tony has a good post on Palin's theology that is worth reading (of course, all his posts are worth reading!).
Many parts of this impromptu speech given at her church is problematic but this one on Iraq is unconscionable. America's unilateral invasion of Iraq is a "task from God?"
This reminds me of a conversation I had with an older gentleman outside of the annual camp meeting in our community last week. He and were exchanging idle pleasantries as we talked about our families. He asked how many siblings I had and I should not have remarked that I have a brother serving in Iraq. He then went on a diatribe about how this is God's war and how the terrorists want to kill us all and that we should be thankful for President Bush and that he has the "cajones" to take it to the terrorists. Whatever.
This blurring of faith and policy is exactly what last night's post was about, and this is a good example. In Faith World, Bush isn't a bumbling, incompetent torture enabler who compares liberals to the VC, but the hand of God.
****
Some Christians are questioning this, and even someone who worked for Jerry Falwell (good God, are those locusts?). See Steven Waldman's warning for Christian conservatives
Mark DeMoss, former chief of staff to Jerry Falwell and now a leading Christian public relations executive, is hoping that Palin turns out well but has been shocked and worried by the reflexive Christian embrace of her.
"Too many evangelicals and religious conservative are too preoccupied with values and faith and pay no attention to competence. We don't apply this approach to anything else in life, including choosing a pastor." Imagine, he said, if a church was searching for a pastor and the leadership was brought a candidate with great values but little experience. "They've been a pastor for two years at a church with 150 people but he shares our values, so we hired him to be pastor of our 5,000 person church? It wouldn't happen! We don't say, 'He shares our values, so let's hire him.' That's absurd. Yet we apply that to choosing presidents. It blows my mind."
****
Josh Marshall has a great open mike conversation between Peggy Noonan, Mike Murphy, and Chuck Todd. Too bad the media can't be this honest on the air:
Chuck Todd: Mike Murphy, lots of free advice, we'll see if Steve Schmidt and the boys were watching. We'll find out on your blackberry. Tonight voters will get their chance to hear from Sarah Palin and she will get the chance to show voters she's the right woman for the job Up next, one man who's already convinced and he'll us why Gov. Jon Huntsman.
****
(cut away)
Peggy Noonan: Yeah.
Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --
PN: It's over.
MM: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.
CT: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.
PN: Saw Kay this morning.
CT: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --
MM: They're all bummed out.
CT: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?
PN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --
CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.
MM: I totally agree.
PN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.
MM: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.
CT: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.
MM: Yeah.
****
Sullivan returns to the Bush/Torture meme and has a great explanation why Bush describes McCain's torture, but doesn't actually call it torture in his ass-holish speech last night (my descriptor, but what else you you call someone who equates the VC with liberals angry at Bush's policies?).
The reason he put it this way, I infer, is that if he describes what was done to McCain as torture, he has incriminated himself for war crimes.
I repeat: The reason he put it this way is that if he describes what was done to McCain as torture, he has incriminated himself for war crimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment