Friday, August 29, 2008

All Women Are Not Created Equal

John McCain announced today that he has chosen Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
I don't know much about Sarah Palin (I don't think anyone does, outside of Alaska), except that she's young, attractive, female and conservative. McCain obviously chose her to try to attract young and female voters, and to make his conservative base happy. Maybe he thinks that the women who would have voted for Hillary will now vote for him instead of Obama. If so, then I think that he's made a simplistic assumption. Hillary's supporters are still much more likely to go for Obama than to switch party loyalties simply because McCain has put a woman on the ticket.
As for me, I wish that he had chosen a VP candidate with some sort of track record on foreign relations. The next President will have to expend considerable energy repairing America's image in the world, which was badly damaged by the policies of Idiot-In-Chief George W. Bush. In the event that the VP has to ascend to the Presidency, I would feel better knowing that she is up to the task.
Sarah Palin may have the ability to be a wonderful leader- I really don't know. What I do know is that Hillary Clinton has already proven herself to be smart, capable, incredibly hardworking, and inspiring to millions of people. She's not perfect, God knows, but I think that she is one of the best and the brightest among America's political leaders. Sarah Palin may, in time, prove to be her equal. But for now, McCain's choice is no substitute for the real thing.
Note: I am aware that many people in the Jewish community loathe Hillary Clinton intensely. You are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine. I would prefer not to get slammed in the comments, or exiled from the J-blogosphere simply because my political opinion may differ from yours. I would love to hear your comments, but please be civil, as I always try to be when I visit your blogs.Thank you.

41 comments:

Leora said...

John McCain is so strong in the foreign policy area that I'm not concerned about Palin's lack in this arena. It sounds like she is a real go-getter, and her short life (eeks, she's younger than me) has accomplished a lot. My understanding is she has experience in the energy arena, and the idea is to get us off of foreign oil. I DON'T WANT TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING THE TERRORISTS BY PAYING THE ARAB'S FOR THEIR OIL.

She's new to me, too; I did all this reading in about one hour.

Leora said...

(should read ARABS). and apologies for shouting, for those who don't like it.

cruisin-mom said...

Superraizy, I agree with you. Hillary supporters will not step in line with the views of McCain, or Palin. She actually seems very likable, but a bit scary to think that if something should happen to McCain, that she would be qualified to step in. (of course, we've just spent 8 years someone who was not qualified). Truthfully, no one thrills me at this point. The next 2 months are going to be fascinating, and historic, every which way you turn.

Baila said...

I don't know this woman at all, so I can't comment on her one way or another. I do have to say I am dissappointed that McCain chose someone so unknown--I don't think it will help his campaign and I am really afraid for Obama to be the next president.

Cruisin' is right--the next two months are going to be very interesting.

Anonymous said...

the idea is to get us off of foreign oil.
Is that possible? I wish it were.
I would prefer not to get slammed in the comments, or exiled from the J-blogosphere simply because my political opinion may differ from yours.
I hope this won't happen to anyone. We are entitled to our own views and ideas and hopefully won't slam nor exclude each other.

Rafi G. said...

I voted Hillary in the primaries, but I do not think this choice was made to replace Hillary and take her votes. I do nto think people were voting Hillary BECAUSE she is a woman, and therefore they will not automatically vote for Palin instead.

But I think Palin was a brilliant move for other reasons. She is young, attractive, self-made, a simple background... all the things on which Obama differentiates himself and makes himself standout have now been usurped by McCain.

Leora said...

the idea is to get us off of foreign oil.
Note to Ilana-Davita: the talk show hosts in America have been suggesting for a while this is possible. Drilling has been stopped for environmental reasons. But instead, we buy oil from places that also are drilling, same planet. Alaska, supposedly, has lots more.

Unfortunately, alternative energy sources are at least ten years off in research. But that remains a future possibility.

Not sure if it would happen for France, but I will believe those in America that say it is possible for America.

Baila: she appeals to many conservatives in America, so she gives them a boost. Many of them were not happy with McCain. Now they are excited. The blue collar workers may like her, too. I'm not crazy about the social conservative platform, but other things, like energy and foreign policy, are much, much more important to me.

SuperRaizy, thanks for letting me go on and on via your post. Glad you brought it up!

ProfK said...

I believe the choice of Palin makes perfect sense. Traditionally, the job of Vice President is a fairly ceremonial one. It is the President that has the power. In choosing Palin, McCain has put himself at the forefront of the ticket. Yes, Palin serves to placate the more conservative of the Republicans, and she shows promise at getting a job done, but she is the train bearer not the main event on the ticket. The reverse is true on the Democratic ticket--Obama is the main event and yet clearly needs backup with experience. And since Hillary is not the Democratic candidate there is not much to be gained in comparing her to Palin--had Hillary been selected the two would still have occupied different roles on their respective tickets.

Mighty Garnel Ironheart said...

I think it's great that McCain found a woman that's more into man stuff than most men in America.

SJ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SJ said...

>> Idiot-In-Chief George W. Bush

ROFL super raizy you have a super moron complex. In Bush's presidency, two government sponsors of terrorism fell (Iraq and Afghanistan).

wanna know how many government sponsors of terrorism fell while Clinton was president? ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!

August 31, 2008 8:32 AM

Anonymous said...

In France, we have no oil so drilling or not drilling is not an issue.
We need to find alternatives though; we can't just rely on other nations, most of which are not the most democratic regimes on the planet, for energy.

OTD said...

She is hot- I'll grant her that much.

SJ said...

* two government sponsors of terrorism fell. i didn't get much sleep last night lol

Jacob Da Jew said...

sj, don't be an asshole. Please respect the blog. People are entitled to their opinion.

I think that she is good choice, politic is very much about the image and she projects personality well.

Having said that, I also think Hillary is the one who brought women forward in this race. McCain is just following up on it.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to note here, that my mother, a life long Democrat and a very serious Clinton supporter (voted and campaigned for Bill both times) and was also a huge Hillary supporter told me today she was switching to vote for McCain.

A lot of moderate Democrats do NOT like or appreciate Obama. He is very fake and most life long moderate Democrats see that, McCain has a VERY good chance this fall.

SJ said...

jacob, what we have here is basically an orthtodox jew saying, 'evil dictators who fire scud missles into Israel for no reason have rights too. How dare the world's only superpower offer to get rid of an evil dictator for free! The atrocity!!!!!!'


The absurdity is beyond words.

SuperRaizy said...

sj-
I'm glad to welcome you as a reader, and I thank you for adding your comments. However, I'm not quite sure what you're so angry about here. Who is this "orthodox jew" that you are referring to? I didn't see anyone here make a statement about "evil dictators".

SJ said...

what i'm sayin superraizy is that Bush made the world a safer place by getting rid of the taliban, Saddam Hussein, and reducing Yasser Arafat to irrelavancy for that matter.

During the time Bill and Hillary was in the white house, absolutely zero terrorism sponsoring governments fell, and the terrorist Yasser Arafat was a white house guest on a regular basis.

I am absolutely not angry, I just fail to see how you can be so ignorant on security issues.



* in my previous post it looks like i corrected myself when i didn't have to, my sleep last night was horrible cauz I stayed up way too late.

Anonymous said...

sj: Since when was Sadam Hussein a taliban? An evil and cruel selfish dictator yes; never a taliban. He never really cared for religion.
Iraq wasn't what Iran is today.

Anonymous said...

sj: Since when was Sadam Hussein a taliban? An evil and cruel selfish dictator yes; never a taliban. He never really cared for religion.
Iraq wasn't what Iran is today.

SJ said...

ok ilandadavita let's connect the dots.

1) al quada's stated primary reason for the 9/11 attacks was the presence of U.S. troops in saudi arabia.

2) U.S. troops were in saudi arabia because saddam hussein was a nutjob who threatened the region.

that's point a.

point b is:

I would refer you to http://www.cfr.org/publication/7702

for more information on Iraq's involvement in terrorism.

SJ said...

secondly ilana what are you saying, that saddam hussein was not one kind of psycho he was another kind of psycho therefore the usa should not have invaded?

SuperRaizy said...

Oy. This is why I am usually reluctant to post about politics.
I don't have time for this today. My niece is getting married tonight, and we have to go get ready for the wedding.
sj- With all due respect, I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't say anything about the Taliban, or Yasser Arafat, or any of the other crazy things that you're talking about. I'm not going to debate your points. It seems to me that you're just looking for smeone to argue with.
And by the way, thank you for calling me ignorant. I have 2 graduate degrees, am very well educated and well read, and score quite high on IQ tests, so it's a nice change of pace to be called ignorant.

Anonymous said...

SuperRaizy: I need to apologize for getting a bit worked up on this but when people give false information I get a bit annoeyd.
Hope you enjoy yourself at your niece's wedding. Mazel tov to her.

SJ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SJ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SJ said...

>> I don't know what you're talking about

your 2 graduate degrees must be in crochet and smoking pot. the relevancy of my previous posts on this blog is when you called Bush the "idiot in chief" and I was trying to say that he is just the opposite based on security issues.

Lion of Zion said...

"the idea is to get us off of foreign oil. Is that possible?"

not as long as the environmentalists oppose drilling in alaska and exploring our offshore reserves. (of course most environmentalists, like good hypocritical liberals, have no problem with foreign oil that destroys the environment of the third world.)

Lion of Zion said...

RAIZY:

מזל טוב on the wedding

Anonymous said...

You refer to the President as "Idiot-in-Chief" and immediately thereafter, piously ask that your readers "please be civil." Perhaps you should try it yourself.

Just a thought.

SuperRaizy said...

sj and david-
I did not (and have never) attacked any of my readers or any other blogger personally. But it seems that my one of my readers is attacking me personally.

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

Raizy: What I do know is that Hillary Clinton has already proven herself to be smart, capable, incredibly hardworking, and inspiring to millions of people.

Hillary has also inspired millions of people to dislike her.

Pailin has proven herself as Governor of Alaska to also be smart, capable and hardworking -- yet she has far fewer detractors than Hillary.

Rafi G. said...

Jameel - it is not really a fair comparison. Palin has far fewer detractors because she has never been known or active nationally

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

Rafi G: I agree its not a fair comparison -- but I don't believe Hillary deserves all the accolades thrown at her either.

Health care in the US? HMO's? They were her brainchild...

What real leadership has she shown that puts her so far ahead of Palin?

Rafi G. said...

oh please. Hillary s light years ahead of Palin in that regard. She was first lady for 8 years, and she wa snot just any first lady. She was one that was involved in goverance over the whole US. She led committees and ran programs. She did not just sit on the side and cook dinner.

You might not like her, you might not agree with her derech and policy, but you cannot take away the fact that she has light years more experience, at a much greater level, than Sarah Palin.

And by the way, Hillary also worked on a fishing boat in Alaska gutting fish with a spoon.

Anyway, this whole thing is moot, because Hillary is not the candidate (the dems are stupid for choosing Obama over her)

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

You might not like her, you might not agree with her derech and policy, but you cannot take away the fact that she has light years more experience, at a much greater level, than Sarah Palin.

Can you please state what national policies implemented by Hillary are/were successful?

Things like this?


In May 1998, she told a youth conference on Middle East peace in Villars, Switzerland, that she supports the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state. Her spokesperson, Marsha Berry told reporters: ""These remarks are her own personal view." Then, in November 1999, while on a purported State visit to the Middle East, she publicly appeared with Yasser Arafat's wife Suha. With Hillary at her side, Suha Arafat made the deliberately false allegation that "Our [Palestinian] people have been submitted to the daily and intensive use of poisonous gas by the Israeli forces, which has led to an increase in cancer cases among women and children." Mrs. Arafat also accused Israel of contaminating much of the water sources used by Palestinians with "chemical materials" and poisoning Palestinian women and children with toxic gases.

Instead of reacting with outrage, Hillary Clinton sat by silently - and gave her a hug and a kiss when she finished speaking. Later, many hours after the event, and only after a media furor put her on the spot for what many view as a bit more than a mere political "faux pas", Mrs. Clinton called on "all sides" to refrain from "inflammatory rhetoric and baseless accusations" - including Israel, whose leaders made no such accusations. Glossing over this remarkably repugnant affair, Mrs. Clinton has yet to specifically contradict and denounce the monstrous lies uttered by Yasser Arafat's wife in her presence. (source)

I'd prefer someone with LESS experience like this. This isn't politics, this is plain decency -- regardless of one's personal politics, this is far from an example of brilliant statesmenship or political acucmen.

Rafi G. said...

as I said, you don;'t have to like her, and if she was the candidate you would not have to vote for her, but you cannot take away the fact that she has much greater experience than Palin.

For good or for bad.

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

You're right -- no one can take away Hillary's Bad Experience (or poor performance).

Palin as VP is far more impressive than Hillary as first lady, wouldn't you say?

Rafi G. said...

Personaly, no. I like Palin's spunk, and I like that she is self-made and comes from a simple background, but that is all she has going for her.

I am a Clinton fan. They really put America on a prosperous path.

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

I have no problem with Bill Clinton (except for when he backstabbed Bibi Netanyahu on Pollard's release or his attempts to force and agreement between Arafat and Israel).

Yet I found Hillary very annoying -- America voted for Bill Clinton as president -- not for Hillary. I think it's unethical the way she used her position as first lady to promote her own personal policies.