The American Spectator

Melvin| 12.3.08 @ 6:49AM

The Clinton's envision themselves as these great visionaries to lead the planet into a utopian nirvana.
It is awfully complacent of Americans to be hoodwinked by two of the most artful charlatans in American political history.
But then again Americans as of late are gluttons of the most extreme form of punishment.
Once again the Clinton's are back on top of their game and Washington D.C.

Bob| 12.3.08 @ 7:59AM

Americans are consistent. They have also been hoodwinked by Barbie Palin.... especially the people here.

stu.b.con| 12.3.08 @ 8:08AM

Yes Bob--we have been "hoodwinked" by an authentic American conservative...Perhaps you should return to huffpo or the kos kids for a "reality" check.
The Clintonistas have pulled one of the great cons of all time and you and your fellow travelers keep drinking the grape koolade, witness the election of an empty suited neophyte with NO cred. Dear leader Obama reminds me of new age "music" all soaring sounds and soothing tones with no beat, no soul, and no substance.
You are tiresome.

Bob| 12.3.08 @ 8:44AM

stu.b.con -- perhaps if Barbie Palin would have debated more or had been challenged in an open press conference we would know whether she was either "authentic" or a "conservative". The fact is that neither of us knows for sure. The only thing we do know is that she knows little about the Constitution, the Supreme Court, economics, and foreign policy. If that makes you think she's appropriate to be President, then.....

Alan Brooks| 12.3.08 @ 8:52AM

This article is of he sort most important to conservatism, our greatest threat comes from corruption from without, and also the eight or so percent of 'Americans' who are fifth columnists, actively working to subvert us.
Let's be blunt about it, the races don't get along, which is the great flaw of globaloney.
My family is super liberal and inculcated me with the notion that people of different racial/ethnic stock can coexist. Well now it is obvious they cannot. I knew it years ago but family blinders can last a lifetime.
Even Dinesh Dsouza fell for it, with his 'The End Of Racism' book, conservative globaloney. I met him twice and he was too earnest by half, falling for his own condescending prattle..
Nations don't get along because the races don't.

And wont. We'll just barely make it.

Thomas| 12.3.08 @ 9:18AM

Melvin:

Please be more careful when accusing
"Americans" of being so "complacent" as to have been "hoodwinked" by "two of the most artful charlatans in American political history". Some of us weren't, you know, and I, for one, saw Bill Clinton as an adolescent, deceitful, skirt-chasing reprobate long before he ever ascended to the presidency. Thus, I'd have been truely surprised if he hadn't had an affair and lied about it thereafter while in the oval office, for that was exactly his conduct as a governor. As for Mrs. Clinton, who thinks Americans would be better off if they pay not only the medical profession for the health care services they receive, like they always have in the past, but also for the entire legion of unionized, federal health care administration hacks that she advocates hiring to oversee the profession - well, there is just no better example of how stuck on stupid that woman truely is.

With all due remorse, I will, however, accept your criticism of complacency with regard to supporting George Bush. I voted for the man, believing him to be a fiscal conservative like myself, and thus deserve every one of the cringes I felt thereafter as I watched him print and spend money like a liberal on a week-long drunk. Had I not been complacent about doing my research before supporting him, I'd have known that his "compassionate conservatism" was merely another name for fiscally irresponsible big-government socialism. Rest assured that I did do my research prior to this last election, though, and was thus fully aware that the main political parties this time offered me a choice between a young, black, socialist idiot with no meaningful executive experience, and an older, whiter and somewhat more patriotic version of the same.

Alan Brooks| 12.3.08 @ 9:22AM

...it might be hastily added that we must try to coexist with those different from us even though we can't coexist.

And, yes, I know Dinesh Dsouza was writing mostly on domestic race/ethnic tension, however racism doesn't end, it abates... racial tension on a global scale?

...Not pleasant to behold.

Brian| 12.3.08 @ 9:35AM

Bob,

perhaps if Barry Obama would have debated more or had been challenged in an open press conference we would know whether he was either "a corrupt Chicago political hack" or a "anti-American lunatic". The fact is that neither of us knows for sure. The only thing we do know is that he knows little about the Constitution, the Supreme Court, economics, and foreign policy.

Barry Obama has no executive experience. Palin would have made a far better President than the absurd, unqualified, unaccomplished clown the American people were duped into putting into office.

WendyG| 12.3.08 @ 9:50AM

Hillary is the worst of the 60's and the worst of the so-called feminist movement. She so reminds me of Eleanor Roosevelt. Not quite a woman, not a man. A hybrid.

>>>>There was Condoleezza Rice on Monday extolling Hillary Clinton's "deep love" for America's "values."

Biggest disappointment of the Bush years - Condi Rice. Totally ineffectual. The Clintons only love the Clintons. The USA is just a breeding ground for their ambitions. That's why as much as I fear Obama, I always rooted for him over Hillary for POTUS. There is just something repulsive about the overarching ambitions of the Clintons, and their bizarre marriage of political convenience. Hillary, to me, has all the warmth of a wax statue at Madame Tussauds. She's a better choice for State than John Kerry or Chuck Hagel, but still, a very strange woman.

Daphne Kenward| 12.3.08 @ 9:57AM

Hillary as secretary of state, one has to wonder which state, the united states, or the one world order, run and controled by the United States Of Europe. America now answers to the new idea, of the One World Order controled by the most powerfull people in the European Community. America is dead, Bankrupt, and in ruins. Obama is more popular in Europe than America as an American Puppet controled by and run by Europe's elite. Americans will dis-arm, no guns on the streets, and no civil rights. You will fight all wars Europe decide, as Slaves to your masters in Europe. Hillary is secretary of what Europe decides.

Alan Brooks| 12.3.08 @ 10:15AM

One World order?? You mean the Queen of England?
what about Guy Banister and Dave Ferrie?
Controlled demolition?
The JEWS (you wouldn't forget them) being pre-warned about 9-11?

Elvis being alive?

Bob| 12.3.08 @ 10:18AM

Brian -- you said this:

"perhaps if Barry Obama would have debated more or had been challenged in an open press conference"

Let's see -- he was in over 20 debates and about a dozen or so press conferences compared to Barbie Palin with 1 debate in which she wouldn't answer questions and no press conferences. Do you see what I mean about "anti-intellectualism"?

And why haven't you mentioned Todd Palin's un-American activity with the AIP? I'd say that's a whole lot worse than being a Chicago pol....

Also anti-intellectual is your statement about "executive" experience. Mayor of a town of less than 10K, hiring a city manager to do the hard work, and a year or so as Governor of a very small state that because of high gas prices, did not face hard issues. The fact is that NONE of the candidates had real executive experience -- not like Romney or Huckabee, or even Richardson.

You need to really stop drinking the KoolAid.

stu.b.con| 12.3.08 @ 10:19AM

Hey Bob--What Brian said! The irony of the Barry lemmings huffing and puffing about Palin's experience is palpable, the blind ignorance to his (lack of) experience and ACCOMPLISHMENTS is staggering. When the history of our time is written thinking people will be scratching their heads over all of this. I just hope the republic is strong enough to survive the first affirmative action president.
Daphne--get some air, get a boy(girl)friend), get a hobby, see a psychiatrist. You need some help.

stu.b.con| 12.3.08 @ 10:26AM

Bob, Your elitism defines you.
Debates? Do you mean those 3 pale imitations put on by the msm to prop up your man? Or the primary debates where even SNL could see what was happening and had the temerity to skewer? Please, it's clear you have chosen to drink the hopenchange koolade.

Also, how is Todd Palin's flirtation with the AIP worse than having a Saul Alinsky bred radical in the White House?

MC | 12.3.08 @ 10:26AM

It is interesting to see how the left sided illuminati party have allowed the Clintonistas regain control in the White house all over again.

Bob| 12.3.08 @ 10:55AM

Here is a quote from Alinsky:

"... the community organizer ... must first rub raw the resentments of the people; fan the latent hostilities to the point of overt expression.'
-- Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals

It sounds more like Limbaugh or Hannity than Obama. Perhaps they are "community organizers" as well!!!!

I never read Alinsky until Obama won the primary. It is interesting that most of the organizing principles he propounds can be found in a lot of management books.

The problem is that "Alinsky" sounds like a Russian name and you can rile up the right wing bigots. If he had spouted the same stuff and his name were Smith, it would not have the impact. This is name calling at its worst. Right wing zealots used "Hussein" in the same way to tell people that Obama was a Muslim.

Reading and understanding someone who was successful in community organizing when that's what you want to do is understandable. Not reading him would have been anti-intellectual.

Here are some of the quotes from the AIP -- Todd Palin's party:

"My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand."

"When the [federal] bureaucrats come after me, I suggest they wear red coats. They make better targets. In the federal government are the biggest liars in the United States, and I hate them with a passion. They think they own [Alaska]. There comes a time when people will choose to die with honor rather than live with dishonor. That time may be coming here. Our goal is ultimate independence by peaceful means under a minimal government fully responsive to the people. I hope we don't have to take human life, but if they go on tramping on our property rights, look out, we're ready to die."

Also, they had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor their anti-American harangue at the U.N.

Now are you really saying this is better than studying a community organizing philosophy?

Brian| 12.3.08 @ 11:00AM

Bob,

If Barry was in so many news conferences, why are luminaries such as Tom Brokaw remarking, "we really don't know who Barack Obama is yet".

Because he wasn't asked any hard questions. The one time Barry was asked hard questions, he ran out of the room (in regards to Tony Rezko).

Do you think a Republican would have been able to pull what Barry did with Rezko and escape any scrutiny on it? Plus all of the shady dealings up in Chicago this clown was pulling? Please.

What does holding a news conference have to do with "intellectualism"? Even liberal members of the Washington Post said the press went overboard for Barry, what hard questions did the guy ever get that he didn't brush off by calling them "distractions"?

You are completely "anti-intellectual" when you brush off Gov. Palin's executive exeperience. Yes, Alaska has a smaller population than most states, but by all accounts she did a very good job managing the state. She cleaned up corruption in Alaska, taking on her own party.

Whereas Barry was in the Senate for all of 148 days before he decided that he'd run for President. Obama contributed nothing in the Senate other than a reliable Democrat vote.

I see nothing in Obama that is remotely intellectual, other than his arrogance and his ignorance of what this country is about.

Alan Brooks| 12.3.08 @ 11:03AM

If Daphne's was President, we'd have:
Gore Vidal as Secretary of State
Jocelyn Elders as Education Czar
Alan Dershowitz as Attorney General
Michael Jackson as Child Welfare Secretary

stu.b.con| 12.3.08 @ 12:03PM

Bob you are somethin'!
Now I'm a 'right wing bigot'?!?!?

And let's be clear about something, I've read Alinsky and he was about tearing down the republic and our capitalist system. Rush et. al. on the other hand are about conserving the republic and our constitution established by our founding fathers to get us out from under the boot of European domination. As for the soothing, vacuous Barry don't kid yourself; he rubs me raw with his pabulum and propaganda, as do you. You may look forward to a euro-socialist America but most of us do not.

Gene Car| 12.3.08 @ 12:22PM

As a European who observed the US Election, I took some trouble to examine carefully the life stories and career accomplishments of the four candidates. I formed a positive view of Barrack Obama from perusal of his two books, particularly, Dreams of my Father. But I was astounded by the thiness of his remuse. Even with what data was available, it struck me as highly risk-adversive. I found Joe Biden to be likable and basically honest, but I have to say that I tremble at the thought of having some one so gaffe-prone at 'one heartbeat' from the presidency. The inadequacy of John McCain was brutally exposed by the economic meltdown. This brings to Governor Palin. Being an experienced Chairman/CEO, including a stint as a faculty Dean, I can smell a slimefest a mile off. I took the trouble to evaluate the 60/70 negative allegations made against her. I am reasonably satified that all are either verifiably false, are based on half truths/distortions, are trivial, or if they were made against her democratic rivals, would be ignored or given a free pass. She can, of course, be fairly criticised for her actions as Gov. But the point is that there are substantial actions to evaluate/criticise in the first place! And all or most carried high risk personal and political risk. So why the hatefest? Her acknowledged accomplisments as Governor in such a short period belie any questioning of her intelligence. Could it be that she has committed the ultimate offence against liberal cuture. She refused to kill her down syndrome child.

Katelyn| 12.3.08 @ 12:34PM

Oh, no, not women having abortions. Who cares? I'm a libertarian who usually votes Republican, but why can't people just mind their own business. How does anyone's abortion hurt YOU?

Steven| 12.3.08 @ 1:03PM

Katelyn:
How does anyone's abortion hurt YOU?

Well, let's forget about ourselves for a moment (since that self-absorbtion things seems to matter little).
What about it being the most heinous, barbaric and sadistic killing of the most innocent of all, THE UNBORN LIVING CHILD!
Yes, they do have feelings also

Dai Alanye| 12.3.08 @ 1:09PM

Let's see:
There's Obama--a radical with strange friends, little experience and a history of avoiding tough decisions, but he wrote a book about himself, and has a law degree.

Then there's Palin--took on corrupt politicians and beat them or sent them to jail, took on the oil companies and beat them, good record of executive experience, but she never wrote a book nor is she a lawyer.

Yeah, I'll back Obama, because I'm rational and intellectual, and he wrote a book. My name is Bob, and I approve this message.

SukieTawdry| 12.3.08 @ 1:11PM

Given the circumstances, I suppose we could be grateful that the office of SOS has declined in status, prestige and influence over the years (the fact that the last three of four Secretaries have been women is testimony to that). Clinton can champion her global village from her Foggy Bottom fiefdom to her heart's content. But, she will not be formulating policy, nor, I'm willing to bet, will she exact much influence over those who do. International agreements still will require Senate ratification. Hillary's appointment was the same kind of political calculation the Kennedy's made when they put LBJ on Jack's ticket. Frankly, I prefer to have her mucking about at State. In the Senate, she was positioning herself as the natural heir to the Liberal Lion. The damage Ted Kennedy and his signature legislation have done to this country over the past 40+ years just might be incalculable.

I concur with commenter who regards Condi Rice as this administration's biggest disappointment. I think it was Christopher Hitchens who said that she was the first in that position to actually be diminished by the role of SOS. My knowledge of past Secretaries is limited, but within those limits I'm afraid I have to agree.

Brian| 12.3.08 @ 1:24PM

"I'm a libertarian who usually votes Republican, but why can't people just mind their own business. How does anyone's abortion hurt YOU?"

You're right. While we're at it, why don't we get rid of laws that outlaw murder or rape? No one I've ever known has ever been raped or murdered.

Is "libertarian" the new code-word for "intellectually vacuous and morally inept"?

Nick in Virginia| 12.3.08 @ 1:42PM

Hey Bob,

Your condecension towards Gov. Palin sounds just like 0bama and Biden (calling her "Mayor" Palin and saying she was nothing because she was mayor of a small town, totally ignoring the fact she had been Governor for 2 years). But that's typical of you libs. That's why so many people hate your kind.

The fact is, Palin wasn't running for President. She was running for VP, and if you think Biden is any great shakes for a potential President you are way off the page.

In addition, it is beginning to look more and more like 0bama does not meet the Constitutional qualifications for serving as President, never mind the knowledge and background. Turns out some of his campaign people have been pushing the concept that this "natural-born citizen requirement is garbage and should be thrown out", for several years now. Looks like they saw this coming.

Many of us will now consider any document he produces as his "birth certificate" as forged (just like CBS and the Texas Air National Guard story about Bush). With all the illegal contributions the 0bama people raked in, they can afford to bribe a whole lot of Hawaiian state officials who might "certify" 0bama as a native-born Hawaiian.

We already know 0bama is dishonest, and what he is doing now simply reinforces that fact.

Crusader| 12.3.08 @ 2:08PM

When I was searching for a viable third party the moral-relativism of most libertarians (like Katelyn) I found is what turned me off from them and on to the Constitution Party.

Hey Katelyn, I am tired of having neighbors--its inconvenient. If I kill them, how does that hurt YOU? I just hope you and 11 like you are on my jury.

Daphne Kenward| 12.3.08 @ 2:29PM

Now, now Alan.

If I was President, the first thing I would do is hold G W Bush for war crimes.

Gene Car| 12.3.08 @ 3:01PM

Katelan
I sense, from your remarks that I have caused you some offense, for which I sincerely apologise. My remarks about Palin and abortion were speculative. As I have perused left-wing and liberal sites over the past three months, I can only stand amazed at the level of vitriol directed at Governor Palin. In my experience, she evoked the sames level of primal hatred and snearing among the liberal mileaus of Europe. And I have wondered why? The only explanation I can think of is that there has grown up in the West, a whole generation, whose conciences have been deeply poisoned and troubled by abortion. Suddenly, onto the US national stage (and therefore the Global stage) strides a women, who, already having four children, refused to abort her fifth, even knowing that he has down syndrome. By this action, and without opening her mouth, she delivers and unbearable moral rebuke the manner of being and acting of a whole generation. I don't believe in conspiracy theories. Without needing an organising principle, what erupted, hive like from the cultural left and the feminist establishment was a akin to a fatwa 'Sarah Palin Delenda Est'. Hence, 'go away please', 'get back to Alaska', etc.

Bob| 12.3.08 @ 3:03PM

Nick, you said this:

"Your condecension towards Gov. Palin sounds just like 0bama and Biden (calling her "Mayor" Palin and saying she was nothing because she was mayor of a small town, totally ignoring the fact she had been Governor for 2 years). But that's typical of you libs. That's why so many people hate your kind."

What do you mean? I called her BARBIE Palin, not MAYOR Palin!!!! No condescension here....

Oh, and I'm one of those "libs" that voted for Romney and might have chosen McCain if he hadn't chosen that know-nothing BARBIE Palin.

So you have hate in your heart and you are a so-con???? Shame.... Shame.....

Bob| 12.3.08 @ 3:07PM

Gene, the reason so many of us dislike Palin is because she proved to be a know-nothing and totally unqualified for national office. It has nothing to do with culture.

Tripp| 12.3.08 @ 3:08PM

All I can say is, thank God for Robert Gates. What an ironic twist- a tacit admittance of Democrats' ineptitude in defense policy. HaHa!

Bob| 12.3.08 @ 3:09PM

Hey Tripp, Gates has agreed to withdraw from Iraq on a faster timetable.... Now that he free of that dunce, Bush, he will do the proper things....

Louis Jenkins| 12.3.08 @ 5:09PM

Palin has no cred? Better explain that to Chambliss down in Ga. In a run off that would leave the GOP with capital hill janitorial status his campaign called in some support that would sway and excite the voters. (And the fact that Obama wasn't active also helped, but face it, he didn't need anyone's help anymore.) Not only did Palin assist Chambliss, but she cemented her own popularity in that state. What makes her popular is her down home personality, her commonality if you will. Now juxtapose her with Harry Reid's glaring down his nose high browed statement "...won't have to smell the tourists anymore." Which one has the cred? When you kill your own game, as Palin, and dress it, you smell more than sweat.

Gene Car| 12.3.08 @ 6:44PM

Bob
Your point about Gov Palin's apparent unpreparedness for national office is well taken. My respect for her is not unqualified. And I might have drawn the same conclusion from her interview with Kate Curiac, among other evidence. But during the election contests for Mayor of Wasilla and more importantly for Gov of Alaska, her opponents also claimed that she 'wasn't ready for primetime'!
And, when I look at the whole KC interview and then compare it line by line with the original transcripts leaked to the Internet, I am not so sure that I would write her off as you have. I agree fully that her answer to KC' s question on the bailout was cringe inducing and was little more than inelequently expressed gibberish. But look, I have a PH.d in economics and listening to Obama and other economic experts responding to the same or similar questions, all I can say is that they expressed their gibberish more elequently. I remain convinced that their is 'someting about Sarah', but time will tell over the next three year. And Bob, even if your are proved right and she was and is indeed, as you say a 'know nothing' that still does not explain the unbelievable level of utterly deranged hostility she has evoked. My case is that it is indeed the Kulturkampf factor (to use the original German term).

Marc Jeric| 12.3.08 @ 9:44PM

We are in for it: Abu Hussein from Kenya on top; that bloviating gasbag Biden "a heartbeat from it"; the famous cattle futures trader in the State; that pardon master of criminals and terrorists as Attorney General; the defender of Castro and Sandinistas as White House Counsel. I am very sad - sorry, I cannot continue.

Bob| 12.4.08 @ 9:04AM

There is no question that Palin is likable. But you raise the issue that all a President should be is likable. He/She should also be knowledgeable and have experience in national affairs. She not only showed a lack of knowledge about foreign policy, but also the Supreme Court, economics (and I also have graduate training in economics), and the Constitution.

The more appropriate question for you, presumably a PhD, is why you disregard her lack of knowledge in so many categories. And why didn't she have the intellectual curiosity to either read or learn about these things throughout her life?

You cannot make a rational argument for her candidacy based upon the facts that we know.

Gene Car| 12.4.08 @ 10:40AM

Bob

Your question is a fair one, but I have to ask if your are being fair to Palin. Is every Governor running For POTUS or VP fully conversant with national policies when they start out? Was Bill Clinton? Was Carter? And they had a longer prep time than Govern Palin, who was thrown in at the deep end. But your question is still a fair one. Let me try it this way. If an election analogous to a hiring process and the presidential election is an appointment to an executive position, then the first question I want to ask the applicant is: what has been your executive experience, for how long, and what have you achieved in that role in that time. I am not so much interested in what you say or how you say it and what you claim to know. I want to know what you have done when you were given a chance and what that tells me about your attitude, knowledge and skills and how you applied them to the tasks of governing. No objective person can deny that Palin has an edge in answering those questions, and judging by her approval ratings, the good citizens of Alaska seem to agree. But your question persists. She may be a 'doer' but did she display lack of knowledge and curiosity across a range of areas. In my evaluation of her I perused the election debates held in Alaska during the Gov election, and I also came across a wide-ranging TV interview she gave at the Governors conference in early 2008. In this latter interview she was on the receiving of a wide range of questions by phone-in from the general public, covering energy, education/training, heathcare policy and many others. All I can say is that she showed easy familiarity with each area and handled the questions deftly. If an individual state is a microcosm of the US and if governing a state sucessfully is an apprenticeship for national and the usual route to the White house, then she is as entitled to just consideration as anyone. Knowledge of foreign policy? Was hers really any worse that Clinton's or Obama's when they started out.? One last point I don't think I made 'likability' a criterion, but it does help to get you elected. Okay that all I have to say. I'm signing out on this one.

Layla| 12.4.08 @ 2:00PM

Showing just how the battle over Secretary position is shaping up, there is now a Hilary Clinton fire starter. I suppose it can be burned to protest her appointment? It can be seen at http://flaminglib.com

Ms. Know| 12.6.08 @ 10:02PM

The left-wing illuminati are all upset because they know Hillary won't be a good leader in her position.

Global Gifting Systems| 12.9.08 @ 8:54PM

well hillary is right candidate for this.