# Palin says she has "Fire In the Belly." Is it just gas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 20, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614 "2011-05-20T20:07:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/281 "2011-07-04T18:18:20Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > For someone interested in “fixing education,” you have a rather cavalier attitude about what the schools actually teach. I work on the theory you catch more flies with honey than vinager. Much easier to teach if the school is seen as part of that community. For instance, I grew up in a Catholic neighborhood, SW side of Chicago, working class, blue collar. Our Catholic school was the key part of that community. The Church, the School and the Community all worked hand in glove towards getting these kids educated. I went on to college, most of my classmates went on to college. In short, it worked because it was a true team effort. And when I went to college and majored in history, I found there was a lot of stuff the Catholic Church glossed over. I suspect that if you are in Moose-Jaw Utah and everyone in the community was Mormon, my going in as a history teacher and demonstrating why Joseph Smith was a fraud wouldn’t go over very well. Even though that would be historically accurate and even though there would be no controversy about anything else I taught, I don’t think the community would be receptive to me. And I don’t think they’d like a Teacher’s Union coming in and saying, “There’s no way you can fire him, ever!” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/282 "2011-07-04T19:59:19Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > … Her handlers are trying to get the message through to her. They do not want to waste their time. How, in any rational universe, can Sarah Palin’s handlers NOT waste time? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/283 "2011-07-04T21:42:12Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > How, in any rational universe, can Sarah Palin’s handlers NOT waste time? By her actually getting the nomination for president or VP. That is scary. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/284 "2011-07-04T21:50:35Z")
Her being the Republican candidate is the best possible news for Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/285 "2011-07-04T22:12:22Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Her being the Republican candidate is the best possible news for Obama. Indeed. I intend to vote for her in the New Hampshire primary, if she is still around. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/286 "2011-07-04T22:59:21Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Indeed. I intend to vote for her in the New Hampshire primary, if she is still around. Waaaaah! Waaaah! Democrat dirty tricks! Go back to France, STALIN! -Joe ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/287 "2011-07-04T23:40:25Z")
Suppose the election machines are really hackable like so many say. She could win. Then what? ---
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/288 "2011-07-05T00:04:10Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Suppose the election machines are really hackable like so many say. She could win. Then what? Ahhh, is that how you tell yourself you lost in 2004? ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/289 "2011-07-05T15:30:59Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > … > Now, all of that said, (and this really belongs on a Romney thread) if the people of Salt Lake City vote to teach Mormon beliefs in **their** classrooms, and that’s the overwealming opinion, they should be allowed to do that. If a community of Scientologists wants to teach about Evil Space Lord Zenu and they are the majority in that school, they should be allowed to do that, too. > … (bolding mine) The people of Sandy, UT (SLC is majority non-LDS) may teach LDS beliefs in **their** [LDS] classrooms. But a religious majority should not be permitted to withhold a non-religious public education from non-religious students. Public schools must teach science. If any organization wants to teach their kids an alternate non-scientific version of reality, it’s their responsibility to fund it with their organization’s money. And in the Mormon suburbs of Salt Lake County, they’re doing a decent job. I learned history and physics and biology in Utah public schools from LDS teachers. My world history teacher give a brief disclaimer that she studied evolution at BYU, and then she suggested that if anyone wants to learn about creationism or ID they should transfer to a private school. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/290 "2011-07-05T16:09:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Ahhh, is that how you tell yourself you lost in 2004? Well, we’ll never know for sure, since the voting system in Ohio and elsewhere was completely unverifiable. But we do know that the CEO of Dibold publicly promised to get Bush elected. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/291 "2011-07-05T16:12:14Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > Now, all of that said, (and this really belongs on a Romney thread) if the people of Salt Lake City vote to teach Mormon beliefs in their classrooms, and that’s the overwealming opinion, they should be allowed to do that. If a community of Scientologists wants to teach about Evil Space Lord Zenu and they are the majority in that school, they should be allowed to do that, too. > > Belief in either disqualifies them from my vote, but they should be allowed to beleive that and teach that if that is what htey believe. Absolutely not. No matter how great a religious majority may be in a jurisdiction, they may not use government resources to promote those religious beliefs. If a town in 99.99999% fundamentalist Christan, it doesn’t give them the right to teach their beliefs in public school. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/292 "2011-07-05T16:38:25Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > Ahhh, is that how you tell yourself you lost in 2004? Is that what I said? ---
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/293 "2011-07-05T23:30:31Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Absolutely not. No matter how great a religious majority may be in a jurisdiction, they may not use government resources to promote those religious beliefs. If a town in 99.99999% fundamentalist Christan, it doesn’t give them the right to teach their beliefs in public school. well, we should dump the whole concept of one size fits all Public Education to start with, given what a fantastic FAIL it’s been. Go back to letting the Churches do it, they do a better job. (And again, I’m an agnostic.) Government shouldn’t be in that business because when you get right down to it, they suck at it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/294 "2011-07-06T00:29:26Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > Government shouldn’t be in that business because when you get right down to it, they suck at it. Only because they don’t have the luxury of turning away special needs kids and expelling underachievers. But such defectives have no right to an education anyway, right? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/295 "2011-07-06T02:14:16Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > well, we should dump the whole concept of one size fits all Public Education to start with, given what a fantastic FAIL it’s been. Go back to letting the Churches do it, they do a better job. (And again, I’m an agnostic.) Government shouldn’t be in that business because when you get right down to it, they suck at it. RR, my local church-based schools were _very_ up-front with us that they were not set up to handle my autistic son and my ADHD daughter. Thanks to the excellent public school system here in Fairfax County VA, my son is a rising senior in high school with a solid B average and college prospects, and my daughter is starting high school with an A- average, and one HS math course credit completed in her 8th grade year. The is no way in heaven or on earth that a ruler-wielding nun would have gotten the same results. You do not know what you are talking about regardibg public education, and this has nothing to do with the thread topic (Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s latest album I think it was - it’s been a while). How about we get back to politics where we can pretend our opinions are of value. ---
**Author:** ![Recovering\_Republican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Recovering\_Republican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recovering_Republican)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/296 "2011-07-06T10:18:39Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Only because they don’t have the luxury of turning away special needs kids and expelling underachievers. But such defectives have no right to an education anyway, right? I think it’s incumbant on their parents to find a school that can handle them. Of course, if your kid isn’t special needs or a troublemaker, but that’s where all the resources are going, he’s getting the short shrift, isn’t he? Oh, frankly, the Catholic school I went to had a few examples of both, and they handled them just fine. As opposed to public schools, which are “ritalin for everyone!” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/297 "2011-07-06T13:23:22Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > Of course, if your kid isn’t special needs or a troublemaker, but that’s where all the resources are going, he’s getting the short shrift, isn’t he? Is that all you guys think about? _Me! Me! What about me!_ ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/298 "2011-07-06T14:23:06Z")
> [@Recovering\_Republican](#): > > As opposed to public schools, which are “ritalin for everyone!” Public schools have no authority to dispense pyschostimulants, or an other controlled substance, in case you were unaware of this. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/299 "2011-07-06T14:41:10Z")
Also, 7% of children are “on ritalin” or similar medications. 7% is approximately 93% less than “all.” Is there any difference between children in public schools and children in private schools when it comes to prescriptions? Or put differently, why would you assume there is? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614/300 "2011-07-06T14:44:52Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > Also, 7% of children are “on ritalin” or similar medications. 7% is approximately 93% less than “all.” Very slight nitpick - that’s close to the estimated percentage of children who are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD (I’ve seen ranges from 5% to 9%, depending on the survey and year). Other research shows that only about 50% of children with the diagnosis are on medication. Of course, your statement that 7% is less than “all” remains absolutely valid. As does your question about differences between public and private schools. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-says-she-has-fire-in-the-belly-is-it-just-gas/582614.md?page=16)