I am Todd Palin’s cousin. I met Sarah Palin when we were 16. We became friends and have shared a lot over the years. I was always a little jealous of her. She was the “pretty one”. Still, I love and respect her, and I am very proud of her.
I am sure you all want to know what I might have to offer this great country of ours that my opponents don’t. I know that Sarah has some pretty strong family values. She, McCain, Obama and myself all have young children. Family is personally important to all of us. I myself have very strong family values, but they are very different from my cousin’s and her running mate’s.
I am proud of America’s families. Most of us work hard, value education for our children, and encourage our children to grow up to take advantage of the many wonderful opportunities this country has to offer. I know there are struggles, and I know that a common sense of security is important in these uncertain times. I want to assure you, America’s families, if I am in office, I will protect your interests. I will fight for livable working wages, affordable housing, equal access to and quality of education across the nation. I will fight for affordable healthcare to our citizens. I will work to make insurance companies accountable. I will minimize and work to eliminate the financial burden of the medically uninsured on taxpayers’ wallets. Yet, for the most part I think that American families are doing a pretty good job for themselves.
My family values stretch to the needs of the children in this nation who are without families. Children who have been removed from their parents care for abuse or neglect and children who have been abandoned and orphaned are the children of this great nation. I am gravely disappointed when I see how the country treats her lost children. I pledge that if elected to office I will make it my job to improve the quality of these lives. I will work with the states to solidify social services. I will make placement permanency the highest priority. I will also enforce strict investigation into any suspected or alleged abuse of these kids while they are in a state’s care. I will make quality of education provided to these children equal to that of children who live in private homes. I firmly believe that if we effectively invest in the potential of these children not only will gain the satisfaction of watching them grow into educated, enabled and capable adults, we will also become witness to a gradual decline in poverty, violent crime, teen pregnancy, substance abuse and imprisonment.
My family values also lead me to take on issues like marriage and adoption. I will work tirelessly to solidify across the nation the legal rights of same-sex couples to marry and to adopt children. I will also work to make adoption more accessible and affordable. I will work to allow single parents to adopt children. For those of you who oppose same-sex marriage, I ask you to consider what our country would be like if we made religious law the law of the land? Isn’t that what the militant Muslim groups do that we oppose so much? Our forefathers built this country on the ideal of freedom. Freedom of religion was their first concern, since they were fleeing religious oppression in England. If I was interested in making sin illegal, I would start by working against the rights of our citizens to enjoy pornography, excessive consumption of alcohol and gambling before I would attack same-sex marriage. From where I sit these things are far more closely linked with the breakdown of American families than same-sex couplings. I will stand firm to protect the separation of church and state on all issues. I will not impose government on churches, and I will not allow churches to control the law.
Finally, my family values make it difficult for me to sleep at night when I know that there are children overseas who are suffering because of tyrannical oppression and our military presence. I will not support any terrorist regime. I will continue the war on terror, but I will end the war on other countries. I will provide sanctuary for any oppressed citizen in such countries, and I will work closely with our allies to encourage them to do the same. At the same time, I will pull military resources out of the battlefield, and place them in charge of protecting such citizens. I will enforce strict, air-tight immigration. I will have our military bases serve as safe havens for refugees who wish to leave their countries, and will enforce thorough background checks before admitting them into our homeland. I will train more of our military in special ops and intelligence, and we will fight and win this war the same way our enemies are fighting it, that is underground.
I will fight the war on terror in our homeland by protecting our most precious resources; our water supply, energy supply and communications networks. I will work with the states to develop evacuation plans and disaster plans to ensure that no disaster, whether natural or humanly imposed, will leave anyone isolated and out of reach of aid. I will booster our nation’s infrastructures. I will also work with our nation’s scientists and engineers, searching for more ways to wean our nation off of oil. I will recruit scientists, doctors and engineers on our nation’s behalf. I will provide scholarships for high achieving scholars who choose majors in the sciences. Many of our most gifted minds will be leaving this life in the next decade, and the interest in the up and coming generation in science is dwindling.
These are most uncertain times. It is time to look forward, to get creative and innovative. These times call for proactivity, not reactivity. We cannot afford to keep doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. We must all work together. It is self-sabotage to exclude anyone from the nation’s interests based on economic, religious, sexual, racial, or ethnic status. As a nation we must make a solid commitment to preserve not only our nation, but our people, and our beautifully diverse culture.
Thank you all for having me here tonight. God bless.
Do you also like to spend big bucks for clothes and beauty salon visits? I don't know too many hard working American's that spend $4200 on a hair style! Lick that bone!
on my hairstyle. I use my own money for my clothes and personal upkeep. I do write it off on my taxes though, since it's part of the job.
My cousin's frivolity wouldn't bother she so much if it wasn't for the fact that John McCain's campaign paid for it and he chose to run a campaign on public financing.
I'm sure she'll be having a great time celebrating the Wall Street bailout with her friends at AIG.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
The fiivolry is what bothers me regardless of who pays when your in the political eye and especially now with the unemployment rate rising and our beautiful America is such dismay! Lick that bone!
very unfair, as such was "donated". Every hear of Obama's 2 -10k Armani designer suits? Does anyone know the price of his shoes? His haircut? his wife's? Why not?
Any serious politician with national coverage will wear expensive clothes, and designer clothes that are donated, while able to have a high "estimated" or exaggerated "appraised" monetary value, cannot have an actual monetary value placed if not in the market to be sold. How about Obama's 1.3 million dollar new house he is currently building near Chicago? Every politician I have ever seen running on the presidential ballot ends up pretty rich, weather through corruption, or simply supporter donations.
The media saw Sarah as a threat, stealing the spotlight, and quickly realized the only way to blot it out was running a very disrespectful smear campaign on her, and portray her as dumb/selfish as possible. She only had two months notice, as everyone else on the ballot had been campaigning and preparing to speak to America for at least 5 years. She was a shove in token, while not a bad person, was unprepared.
If you want to run a serious campaign, be prepared to dress nicely:
be prepared to have clothes donated to you by your supporters, and pressure you into wearing them, if you do choose to be "common" and dress like a regular person.
Be prepared to look bad on national TV in front of millions.
Be prepared not to have much free time to dress yourself, cut your own hair, ect, as you now have bigger matters to attend to.
You are right, I was being unfair as not to include Obama in that discourse, although he seems to have had his own money before this election, not sure where it came from, family or what, but you're correct.....history has proven that most of these elections are based on charisma anyway. It has been proven throughout history that the most charismatic candidate wins, unless they were famous to begin with, like Reagan! I also didn't take into consideration that she WAS pulled into this election at the last moment so it seems. My knee jerk reaction was happy at seeing a hard working woman even in the running! Know what they say....go with your first thoughts. My first thought is to vote for the only Kingdom that is to survive anyway and that's YWHW's Kingdom! Lick that bone!
If I'd only 2 months notice before accepting what is considered one of the most useless, yet potentially the most powerful positions in the world, I would have to put personal interest aside, and accept a lower position. That would be being personally honest and also showing that I value national security above personal advancement.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
How do you feel about America's relationship with Israel? With so many prominent Jews in this country, this is an important issue for many, and I was merely curious of your opinion.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
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As it turns out I have been doing a lot of research on the history of Israel lately. Let me say first, that I have utmost respect for the Jewish people and the struggles they have fought all throughout history.
Currently there are about 13-14 million Jews in the world. Between 5 and 6 million live here in the United States. Another 5-6 million live in Israel. I understand that our country, being a central home to many Jews, is of great importance to the Jewish people as well.
I also understand the gravity of their persecution and near extinction that took place less than 100 years ago due to a very ignorant world that allowed insane fascism and racism to infect most of the world. America is not only fortunate, but victorious for not falling into that propaganda fueled pitfall. I attribute that to the painstaking sacrifices and endless laboring over our country's forefathers. By creating the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, they created a core precedence that America must stand for freedom.
That is the freedom that I love, and will continue to fight for. In the name of that freedom I will continue to fight fascism and racism anywhere it rears its ugly head.
America is bound by the above mentioned sacred documents to defend freedom, much in the same way that the Jews are bound by their Holy books to the land of Israel. I pledge to defend Israel in her quest to preserve her homeland.
At the same time I maintain my stance on the war on terror. Israel is special to America, not only because we are her home away from home, so to speak, but also because many Christians in our nation also have a spiritual interest in her. There is a growing faction called “Christian Zionists” who are interested in supporting the rebuilding of the Third Temple in Israel, at all costs, because they see this a fulfillment of prophecy that will hasten the second coming of Christ. I am leery of this kind of thinking because I don’t think anything should be done at any cost.
As for Israel, I will offer her support in any way she asks, with the exception of utilizing terror on her enemies. Terrorism is a global threat. It cannot be tolerated. It is something that the world needs to take a unified stance against. America cannot and should not be responsible for fighting and defeating it alone.
I pledge that I will call for conferences with the United Nations, as well as Israel, to work on a unified global plan to defeat terrorism once and for all. I will station as many troops within Israel’s borders as are deemed fit, with the purpose of defending her borders and holy grounds. I will not occupy other countries based on the suspicion of terrorist activities within their borders alone. I also will not condone any terrorist acts committed by Israel herself.
Unlike my cousin, Sarah Palin, who said that if she were promoted the presidential office she would rely on the generals of the military who are on the ground in the middle of the war to tell her what needs to be done, I will live up to the job description of commander in chief, understanding that a clear understanding of the bigger picture is what is required of the position.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
He was in Hollywood, getting trained by actors with a remarkable meal of approximately $28,000 a plate, on his next speech/national coverage.
Smear campaign fact: yes.
True fact: yes
right or wrong?
I don't know...
Why is Sarah Palin being singled out for this? What was she doing during this crisis: definitely not in Hollywood getting trained to "act". She is a real person, and thus, her flaws are more obvious. I can't believe all the hate for her still exists after the election.
I celebrated Tuesday in Grant Park, Chicago, with Obama supporters, but I cannot stop being offended at how unfair the public was to her because of how brutal the media portrayed her. Even the guy she fired, that the media made a huge deal about, stated himself that she would make a good VP. The guy that got fired was not even complaining, as he had been caught drinking on the job! But they continued to smear her, disregarding the fact that there was absolutely no evidence of her abusing her power: not even enough for the slightest opportunity to take her to court. Not even listening to the guy she fired, who knew he deserved it, completely job related, and was not protesting, but instead defending Palin!
What the media failed to state was that the current "investigations" were being done by themselves, not by police/FBI officials!
So supposed I decided to investigate you:
If I am wealthy and powerful enough, I can nationally publicize that you are under "investigations" (investigations by me). If I want to be even worse, I can personally hire an agent/officer to investigate you, all for the sake of being able to technically write that you are being "investigated by officials".
They see no problem with deceiving or withholding information as long as they can't get sued for technically "lying".
Media is biased, no matter which side they take. They are a large, privately owned and powerful businessed with special interests. They are most certainly corrupt.
If they did the same thing to Obama, or any human being, I am sure most of America would disapprove of them as well.
Lets hope you are more prepared to deal with media than Sara Palin. Lets hope that when you run, media has intentions of being honest, at least in your favor! But then again, you might need to makes deals behind doors with then, and pay them off in ways you may have never expected, because they will blackmail you if you get on their bad side. You will at least need to suck up to them.
They will dismiss any journalist working for them who exposes this truth, and who would publish this?
Doesn't his Hollywood training go right along with what I was saying about the charisma factor. As for being investigated by anyone, I guess I would just have to be fired or whatever for I suck up to no one except Jehovah and that I'm not doing very well at right now either, in case anyone chooses to investigate! Throughout my lifetime I have become excited over presidential candidates that I thought were really going to do something in the White House, then as time went on I also saw them fail, lie, cheat and steal. Even on the slim chance when the President does try to fulfill his campaign promises, his hands can become tied by the House. I have generally lost faith in the world's system of things because of it's failure rate. America has helped to the point of it's demise. I enjoy helping as much as anyone, that is why I now try to help people save their lives through the study of their Bibles. The writer and editor of that book 'cannot lie', unlike the world's politicians. Lick that bone!
well, I know what you are saying about the disappointments: I just wanted to post this in defense of her though. I was more angry at the media than anything else, because of what they caused the average person to believe. People seem much more rational now that the elections are over : ) Even the media seems to be alot nicer to her now. Thanks for the reply.
After her debut, Sarah hosted a campaign fundraiser dinner granting admission with a $50,000 donation. That's called "campaigning."
I guess Obama's "training by Hollywood actor's" paid off. John McCain could have had a Return On Investment if he'd only have hired those same people for an evening.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
My intentions was not to single out Palin, I just saw the chance to ask someone that was familiar with her. I have always preferred to seek out the source before making up my mind and since that's not gonna happen, I went with the closest possible source. All the controversy from the campaign trail cannot be believed, but I was interested re comments from someone closer to home. I was actually impressed with Palin and her jump into that frying pan! She put her best foot forward, I guess I just wanted her to be that different, and when I heard about her extravagant spending I was disappointed. It is expected from Obama since he had money before he hit the trail. Not that that makes is right! When Fisk University's new president gave her $5000 bonus back to the school, I had high hopes for others! Let's face it though, look at what is at the top of the media list now........the Obama family dog! Lick that bone!
It helps maintain the flow of conversation. Thanks.
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
My intentions was not to single out Palin...
Um, might I suggest, "My intention was to not single out Palin..." or "My intentions were not to single out Palin..."?
Again, this is just a force of habit; don't take it personally. ^.^
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"...Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say 'no' — they may not be smart enough to say 'yes.'"
-Keith Olbermann
I'll be frank. At first, I didn't like Governor Palin as Sen. McCain's running mate. In fact, I really didn't like Governor Palin as Sen. McCain's running mate. Now, after everything has been said and done, it's sad to see her thrown under the bus with as much force as she has by GOP staffers who, no doubt, are looking for a scapegoat to pin the loss of power on.
If Gov. Palin ever starts feeling down about herself because of all this criticism, tell her that ultimately, it Sen. John McCain who called upon her to be his running mate and is every bit as much at fault - if not more so - than she.
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"...Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say 'no' — they may not be smart enough to say 'yes.'"
-Keith Olbermann
She is definitely a scapegoat that Americans have no problem disrespecting. That and America has no respect for pretty woman, as they will still buy into propaganda of
"pretty woman" == dumb.
What is that telling woman of America? That we can't be feminine? We have to cut our hair short and pretend to be men in order to be considered intelligent!? I blame it mostly on the media who disparately (and successfully) jumped on this opportunity to play on sexism, to the point where people thought she was dumb because she didn't want to publicize which magazines/newspapers she may like to read. I fail to see how this is dumb:
I will explain why asking a politician in her position "What magazines do you read? (concerning where you get your information from)" is a loaded question, and why choosing not to answer, as she did, may be wise:
Politicians get info by doing their job, having first-hand access to insider information, as well as associating with other party members and seat-holders, and this trickles down to the media. It is the other way around for Media: Media mainly gets their information from the politicians, and then they expose it to the people (many times in a warped, half-truth manner). So in a sense, politicians are the SOURCE, media is the middle man for transferring the source. It is rarely the other way around: Political media is rarely ever a source for Politicians, as they only keep an eye on it to pull stings in winning elections (good publicity).
Anyway, this question was a "talk down to Sarah" sort of question, not treating her like the effective politician that she is, but like a dumb, everyday pretty-woman ditz.. If she had said she mainly gets her info from magazines, the mainstream media, who's only intent was to convince Americans that she was "dumb", would have then blown this up. They could have done this by asking her a question on something that may have been published by the publisher of her choice, had she named one, and given that they are journalists and that is part of their job, they would know something that Sarah would not have, once again painting her as "dumb".
The questions they asked her were never asked to Biden: How about asking Biden or Obama "What magazines do you get most of your information from?"
Can you imagine them saying
"Oh, I get most of my information from Newsweek magazine!"
That would definitely undermine their credibility, because politicians in their position don't get their information from liberal magazines (that would be backwards):
Concerning doing their job, they are supposed to get their info first hand and NOT through some wealthy special interest publishing business, who's main purpose is to make sales and sway American sheeple's opinions!
This was a loaded question that Sarah Palin did not want to answer, but because it was loaded, especially in the light she had already been portrayed in, even a no- answer was enough to condemn her.
I would vote for you :).
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"The ink of a scholar is worth a thousand times more than the blood of a martyr."
- Lupe Fiasco -
As a matter of fact the user poll on the right of your screen is voting for those who have submitted a presidential platform.
Love is like a box of chocolates; if you chose wisely you won’t be disappointed and have to spit it out. ~T