# And again -- who IS Sarah Palin **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 2, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686 "2008-09-02T15:30:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/401 "2008-09-14T13:39:36Z")
What slays me is it seems that all the things that were used to criticize Obama for months now seem to apply to Palin. Not enough experience. A wacky preacher known for years who says crazy things in recorded sermons. Objectionable associations. Being investigated. and now, like magic, all of those things don’t matter when associated with Palin. If all those things were really incredibly valid reasons to discount Obama you’d think republicans would be furious at McCain for choosing her {although I suspect some are} ftr, I don’t criticize her for lack of experience, or her religious beliefs except in how they affect her policies. I’m not interested in the guilt by association game except to point out hypocrisy when it is so incredibly clear. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/402 "2008-09-14T13:56:44Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > And as to asking him about why Wooten was still employed given his criminal activities (drinking in his patrol car, tazoring a 10 year old, shooting moose out of season) Why shouldn’t she have? Er, because a court that considered those issues [told her and her relatives to knock it off](http://www.newsweek.com/id/158140) with the allegations: > [@](#): > > An Anchorage judge three years ago warned Sarah Palin and members of her family to stop “disparaging” the reputation of Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten, who at the time was undergoing a bitter separation and divorce from Palin’s sister Molly. > > Allegations that Palin, her husband Todd, and at least one top gubernatorial aide continued to vilify Wooten—after Palin became Alaska’s governor and pressured state police officials to take action against him—are at the center of “Troopergate,” a political and ethical controversy which has embroiled Palin’s administration and is currently the subject of an official inquiry by a special investigator hired by the state legislature. > > Court records obtained by NEWSWEEK show that during the course of divorce hearings three years ago, Judge John Suddock heard testimony from an official of the Alaska State Troopers’ union about how Sarah Palin—then a private citizen—and members of her family, including her father and daughter, lodged up to a dozen complaints against Wooten with the state police. The union official told the judge that he had never before been asked to appear as a divorce-case witness, that the union believed family complaints against Wooten were “not job-related,” and that Wooten was being “harassed” by Palin and other family members… Clearly, the court heard all these claims, and found them to be non-credible harassment (of the sort that is all too common in bitter divorce cases) rather than legitimate issues. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/403 "2008-09-14T15:26:29Z")
I don’t want to open a new thread, so I’ll just say that, apparently, Sarah Palin is someone who rewards her friends. Especially if they like cows. " So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency. Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages." [Article](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?bl&ex=1221537600&en=0a08e0fcae834dd5&ei=5087%0A) Mooooooo!!! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/404 "2008-09-14T16:27:28Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > But the media itself has turned itself inside out whenever a person outside of their circle asks the questions about Ayers, for instance. Specifically, why does Obama keep as a supporter a man who CURRENTLY defends and is proud of his former actions as an American terrorist. Yes his actions were many years ago, when he was young, but he currently still states that he wishes he had done more. They do not seem to have to turn themselves inside out to do anything. Simply showing the “straight” facts appears to be enough to make the charges silly. Ayers gave Obama a $200 donation to run for the Illinois legislature years ago. The two served on the board of a group trying to improve the lives of poor Chicagoans. Ayers has not been associated with anything resembling trerrorism in over 30 years (however much he has declined to condemn his own actions). In fact, his statement that he wished he had done more–to stop the war–was artificially linked to his confession to the bombings, a point he immediately noted at the time the interview was published. > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > As to Rezko, 10 years now? Please, Obama’s only been on the national scene since 2004. Though I suppose it’s possible that the folks in Chicago may have been investigating this for longer, here’s a newspaper: [http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/757340,CST-NWS-watchdog24.articlet](http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/757340,CST-NWS-watchdog24.articlet) What has his national prominence got to do with ten years of local investigations that have turned up nothing? > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > At any rate, the Obama supporters on the news made a huge deal out of McCains houses he and his wife owned, but refused to answer, or turned the racist card on anyone who asked about the great deals Obama got on his houses in the Chicago area. I’ve read newspaper reports on this issue, the one I linked to skirts close to stating that there was some kissy-kissy going on, and others, “debunk” it, but don’t really answer the questions. Again, we all read the same news, and we all either read between the lines, or don’t, or carry away different interpretations. When all you get from the bloggers and news media is “well, you’re all racist then if you have to ask these questions” it definitely perks up a person’s ears. You do know that bloggers are not really part of the news organizations, right? You do realize that partisans on both sides of the election continue to say horrible things about their candidates’ opponents. That you compare the blogger actions on the Left (ignoring the blogger actions on the Right) to the overall media simply indicates that you are participating in the very actions you claim to condemn. I do not recall your condemnation of the stories (still in circulation) that Obama is actually a stealth Muslim or that he was indoctrinated in a Muslim _madrassah_ or that he is an illegal candidate for the presidency because one of his parents was not a U.S. citizen. So your claims seem a bit self-serving to me. > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > And yes, I realize that the snippets that we get on the righties stations are small bits, but, with Wright alone, the ones that came down were SO horrendous, they were enough to stand on their own. Piffle. After Wright got media attention due to his (now) most famous congregant, he went out and made some really inflammatory remarks–remarks that were disavowed by his replacemnet pastor as well as by Obama. The other remarks were simply cut-and-paste phrases taken completely out of context. _::: shrug :::_ For every “condemn America” that you can drag up from the Left to allow yourself to be horrified, I suspect that I could find at least as many statements from the Right that will horrify Left-leaning persons that you would consider quite right and proper. We are not actually talking about “horrendous” thoughts so much as ideas with which each side is unhappy. Again, _::: shrug :::_ Arguing against the ideas is fine. (I wish that more posters would actually do that rather than get into these silly pissing contests), but making claims againsat "the media’ or otherwise trying to spin one’s candidacy as though it was an uphill battle against a stacked deck\* is just silly posturing so that each side can claim a greater victory if they win or excuse their defeat if they lose. \*(I apologize for the mixed metaphor.) ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/405 "2008-09-14T16:34:44Z")
Time to give a simple answer to the original question. Sarah Palin is the Democrats’ worst nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/406 "2008-09-14T16:36:49Z")
:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/407 "2008-09-14T16:42:42Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency. Nice cronyism…doin’ a heckuva job, Franci. What’s the difference between George Bush and Sarah Palin? Lipstick. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/408 "2008-09-14T16:44:03Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Time to give a simple answer to the original question. > > Sarah Palin is the Democrats’ worst nightmare. In the world of anybody with an ounce of integrity, Sarah Palin as president is everyone’s worst nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/409 "2008-09-14T16:56:48Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > :rolleyes: Apparently the best thing that can be said about her is that she pisses off liberals. Nevermind why, what her skills are, what she’s done, or how the country will be with her as leader. It’s she pisses off liberals. Welcome to the conservative mindset. Scary ain’t it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/410 "2008-09-14T17:08:37Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > [Quote=tomndebb] > :rolleyes: Apparently the best thing that can be said about her is that she pisses off liberals. Nevermind why, what her skills are, what she’s done, or how the country will be with her as leader. It’s she pisses off liberals. Welcome to the conservative mindset. Scary ain’t it. [/QUOTE] Your first paragraph makes a bit of sense and is something upon which one might expand a discussion. Unfrotunately, your second paragraph falls back into the same sound bite rhetoric that seems to substitute for actual discussion, these days. (Sorry for picking on you; you are hardly alone. I just wish that we had a bit fewer bumpersticker posts in the dozens of election threads.) ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/411 "2008-09-15T02:07:27Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > url=[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?bl&ex=1221537600&en=0a08e0fcae834dd5&ei=5087](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?bl&ex=1221537600&en=0a08e0fcae834dd5&ei=5087%0A)]Article > > Mooooooo!!! Yes, that was bad \*financial \*judgment on all our parts. Again, national spin on a local problem. We ALL (well most of us) wanted to save Matmaid. The $600k was supposed to help them jumpstart their recovery and she and we all knew it would be a toss of the dice that may not work. It was a last ditch, emotionally fueled effort that most of us (though no, not all), supported. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/412 "2008-09-15T02:30:51Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > They do not seem to have to turn themselves inside out to do anything. Simply showing the “straight” facts appears to be enough to make the charges silly. Ayers gave Obama a $200 donation to run for the Illinois legislature years ago. The two served on the board of a group trying to improve the lives of poor Chicagoans. Ayers has not been associated with anything resembling trerrorism in over 30 years (however much he has declined to condemn his own actions). In fact, his statement that he wished he had done more–to stop the war–was artificially linked to his confession to the bombings, a point he immediately noted at the time the interview was published. I don’t call “I wish I’d done more” as declined to condemn. > [@](#): > > What has his national prominence got to do with ten years of local investigations that have turned up nothing? There was more in that article than merely his national prominence. > [@](#): > > You do know that bloggers are not really part of the news organizations, right? You do realize that partisans on both sides of the election continue to say horrible things about their candidates’ opponents. That you compare the blogger actions on the Left (ignoring the blogger actions on the Right) to the overall media simply indicates that you are participating in the very actions you claim to condemn. Again, no need to get snarky. Of course I realize that, which is why is said News AND bloggers. And talked about how their common practice of labeling people who bring up these questions as “racist”. No, of course the bloggers aren’t the press, they’re worse. They are voters, and poisoners of other potential voters even more so than the press at times. > [@](#): > > I do not recall your condemnation of the stories (still in circulation) that Obama is actually a stealth Muslim or that he was indoctrinated in a Muslim _madrassah_ or that he is an illegal candidate for the presidency because one of his parents was not a U.S. citizen. So your claims seem a bit self-serving to me. Dennis Prager is one that has denied these claims and defended Obama against that claim as well as the Lipstick nonsense and the stupid garbage about Obama’s African half brother that he “doesn’t take care of” though he said he’s “his brother’s keeper”. As to the lipstick nonsense, I don’t believe that _Obama_ meant Sarah Palin, but his audience sure thought he did. And those are some of the folks of whom I speak. > [@](#): > > After Wright got media attention due to his (now) most famous congregant, he went out and made some really inflammatory remarks–remarks that were disavowed by his replacemnet pastor as well as by Obama. The other remarks were simply cut-and-paste phrases taken completely out of context. > _::: shrug :::_ I just watched an entire hour of Obama on one of the campaign interviews, and I make it a point to listen to his speeches whenever possible, I have not yet heard this from the horse’s mouth, but I’ll take your word for it. > [@](#): > > For every “condemn America” that you can drag up from the Left to allow yourself to be horrified, I suspect that I could find at least as many statements from the Right that will horrify Left-leaning persons that you would consider quite right and proper. We are not actually talking about “horrendous” thoughts so much as ideas with which each side is unhappy. > Again, _::: shrug :::_ Such as? And yes, I agree wholeheartedly with the last sentence there. The trouble is, America was founded and means many things which many of today’s young people and all far lefters, don’t believe in. So to make those people happy means to change what America is, for some of us, for the worse. > [@](#): > > Arguing against the ideas is fine. (I wish that more posters would actually do that rather than get into these silly pissing contests), but making claims againsat "the media’ or otherwise trying to spin one’s candidacy as though it was an uphill battle against a stacked deck\* is just silly posturing so that each side can claim a greater victory if they win or excuse their defeat if they lose. > > \*(I apologize for the mixed metaphor.) Well, in my case, I’m more trying to say “Look, media, and those who are buying into the ‘Sarah is evil’ spin OF the media, that’s just not how it went down here locally”. Also, I personally don’t care a whit about " getting to claim victory" great or otherwise. I will merely be relieved if Obama isn’t our next president. I honestly do not think he is the right person. And I believe that not only is he not the right person, but that he would be actively harmful to the American people. I have very good intuition. (I know, that’s neither here nor there, since none of you have experienced that first hand, but my friends can vouch for it! :D). This is my first foray into the GD. I’m just not smart enough for it, but in this case, I’m an Alaskan girl (one who hates moose and fish, and doesn’t hunt or fish), and we kick ass, and so I’ve GOT to try and defend my girl! So bear with me while I learn here. And to those who are asking questions of me and I miss them, I apologize, I’m not ignoring you, I just have a very limited time, (mostly just on the weekends), as more classes at the Univ. are starting (I’m an adjunct faculty member, I know! Whodda thunkit?) in addition to my regular day job. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/413 "2008-09-15T02:44:43Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Yes, that was bad \*financial \*judgment on all our parts. Again, national spin on a local problem. We ALL (well most of us) wanted to save Matmaid. The $600k was supposed to help them jumpstart their recovery and she and we all knew it would be a toss of the dice that may not work. It was a last ditch, emotionally fueled effort that most of us (though no, not all), supported. I really gotta ask … did you even bother to read the article? The whole MatMaid fiasco was one tiny bit of the article. The rest of it dealt with Palin’s entire history of cronyism and enforcing petty personal grudges with government. Talk about missing the point. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/414 "2008-09-15T06:58:35Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I really gotta ask … did you even bother to read the article? The whole MatMaid fiasco was one tiny bit of the article. The rest of it dealt with Palin’s entire history of cronyism and enforcing petty personal grudges with government. > > Talk about missing the point. Let me list some of the major points in this article, which should be required reading for all. A builder complained to her that the city attorney put a stop work order on his housing project. She fired the attorney. In the endangered polar bears suit, she said that state scientists found no ill effects of warming on the bears. In fact they had. The request to block the listing would cost nearly a half million dollars to process. That’s fiscal conservatism for you. She fired an aide after he fell in love with another friend. When the guy was hired by the Republican Speaker of the House, her husband called to say how upset she was about it. The Wasilla museum was a point of contention between progressive and conservative factions. She fired the museum director, and then sent an aide to the museum telling the three remaining employees to decide one more person to fire. They all quit. As for the library issue, social conservatives had been trying to get books banned for ages. As a councilwoman she tried to get “Daddy’s Roommate” banned. So the request about the process to ban books didn’t come from nowhere. The original article, by the way, never claimed that there was a list, so defending her on that basis is pointless. Defending her because she was never actually able to ban anything is also pointless. But the worst thing, in my opinion, is that she and her aides use their personal emails to avoid having an official record. (Sound familiar?) An aide claims that the emails would be copied if “there was significant state business.” Decided by who? > [@](#): > > On Feb. 7, Frank Bailey, a high-level aide, wrote to Ms. Palin’s state e-mail address to discuss appointments. Another aide fired back: “Frank, this is not the governor’s personal account.” > > Mr. Bailey responded: “Whoops~!” Why would she do this? > [@](#): > > While Ms. Palin took office promising a more open government, her administration has battled to keep information secret. Her inner circle discussed the benefit of using private e-mail addresses. An assistant told her it appeared that such e-mail messages sent to a private address on a “personal device” like a BlackBerry “would be confidential and not subject to subpoena.” Does she scare me? Fuck yes. To quote a Disney movie: > [@](#): > > If she doesn’t scare you > No evil thing will though I’ll confess there is no evidence she wants to make a coat out of the skins of Dalmation puppies. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/415 "2008-09-15T08:36:19Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I don’t call “I wish I’d done more” as declined to condemn. Which sounds like you’re swallowing the already debunked lie that he claimed to have wanted to bomb more. > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > There was more in that article than merely his national prominence. However, when I pointed out that there has never been evidence of wrongdoing or close association between Rezko and Obama in over ten years of “inquiry,” you were the one who tried to deflect the statement by claiming that Obama had not been a national figure for ten years. > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Of course I realize that, which is why is said News AND bloggers. And talked about how their common practice of labeling people who bring up these questions as “racist”. Actually, that is not what you actually posted, which was > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > At any rate, the Obama supporters on the news made a huge deal out of McCains houses he and his wife owned, but refused to answer, or turned the racist card on anyone who asked about the great deals Obama got on his houses in the Chicago area. I suppose that you intended “supporters on the news” to mean people reported in the news, but your statement (particularly in conjunction with other comments) made it appear that you have joined the people who like to pretend that “the media” has sheltered Obama or defamed Palin. > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Dennis Prager is one that has denied these claims and defended Obama against that claim as well as the Lipstick nonsense and the stupid garbage about Obama’s African half brother that he “doesn’t take care of” though he said he’s “his brother’s keeper”. So? I do not make any claim that everyone on the political Right is equivalent to Limbaugh, Hannity, or Beck. I noted that while I see you complaining that some evil force on the “Left” (including, without citation, the news media) attacks Palin, I have not seen you condemn those attacks on Obama while whining about similar attacks from similar sources against Palin. > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I just watched an entire hour of Obama on one of the campaign interviews, and I make it a point to listen to his speeches whenever possible, I have not yet heard this from the horse’s mouth, but I’ll take your word for it. Did you turn off the radio and TV and prevent every paper from entering your house the last week of April and the first week of May? Wright gave a highly publicized speech at the National Press Club on April 28 in which he stepped out with a list of odd claims to which Obama replied with complete condemnation on April 29, withdrawing his church membership on April 30. Why would Obama need to keep raising the issue in speeches? It was a one-time event that has no bearing on his candidacy. > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > The trouble is, America was founded and means many things which many of today’s young people and all far lefters, don’t believe in. So to make those people happy means to change what America is, for some of us, for the worse. Well, I’m sure that we all really want to return to those halcyon days when only free, white, land-owning males were permitted to vote and each state collected taxes to support the religious denomination of some group’s choice, but there are those other people who think that the U.S. still has a way to go before it actually embraces “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all its citizens. 😉 > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Well, in my case, I’m more trying to say “Look, media, and those who are buying into the ‘Sarah is evil’ spin OF the media, that’s just not how it went down here locally”. There is no “spin OF the media” that Palin is evil. There are questions about her behavior (just as there are questions about the behaviors of Obama, McCain, Biden, Clinton, Romney, Edwards, Huckabee and so on) that get asked and answered on an ongoing basis. That you consider such stories as the actual reported news of the timeline for Palin to have “opposed” the bridge to nowhere or for the news media to correctly report that the Secretary of the AIP had reported that she was a member, only to have that same media report that the Secretary had misspoken, to be evil spin while continuing, yourself, to condemn Obama for going to a church led by Reverend Wright (with no corresponding condemnation for Palin for having attended a church led by Larry Kroon) simply indicates, to me, that you want “your side” to be given favorable treatment while ignoring that Palin has not received any harsher or worse treatment than the other candidates. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/416 "2008-09-18T18:38:11Z")
[An interesting little story about Mrs. Palin’s interaction with a famous Kenyan preacher known as a great "witch-hunter. Maybe this sort of thing will be useful in Washington, DC.](http://jonathanturley.org/2008/09/17/anti-witch-and-pro-palin-kenyan-minister-at-heart-of-latest-controversy-of-faith-based-politics/) ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/417 "2008-09-19T01:56:26Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Time to give a simple answer to the original question. > > Sarah Palin is the Democrats’ worst nightmare. Simple minds tend to think up simple answers. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686/418 "2008-09-19T02:17:55Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > Simple minds tend to think up simple answers. But then, that is one of the fundamental appeals of the Republican party. They run on two bases: simplistic answers, and ever and eternally lower taxes, even if that means the dams burst and the bridges fall down. They’ll tell you that they just want it to be handled locally, but the fact is, they’ll elect anyone down to city councilmen who will promise lower taxes. And those are the reasons Democrats lose. We recognize that reality isn’t simple, and we acknowledge that prices have to be paid for things. We don’t enjoy paying taxes any more than anyone else, but we admit that it’s necessary to keep bunches of people from drowning or falling into rivers as they did in Minnesota a couple of years ago. The Republicans refer to this as “pork” and scorn it. Interstate highways, folks. It’s a national responsibility, not state or local. And the effects of dams are usually multi-state as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-again-who-is-sarah-palin/461686.md?page=20)