# Sarah Palin vs. the Anchorage Daily News, or Palling Around With The Facts? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 14, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176 "2009-01-14T01:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/61 "2009-01-14T22:20:43Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Well I am definitely confirming my bias by thinking that you are deriving some entertainment from it. 😉 I suppose it is more entertaining than having the entire Chinese army march over my penis wearing soccer cleats. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/62 "2009-01-14T22:34:50Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > I suppose it is more entertaining than having the entire Chinese army march over my penis wearing soccer cleats. Probably less exciting though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/63 "2009-01-14T23:46:54Z")
And now [Palin’s trying to block federal protection for beluga whales.](http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1448528820090114) ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/64 "2009-01-15T00:33:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And now [Palin’s trying to block federal protection for beluga whales.](http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1448528820090114) Quick get Paul Watson on the case! He and his merry band of hippies must stop the killing of the whales! ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/65 "2009-01-15T00:36:40Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > For the record, here is the origin of “reality-based-community”: > > [URL=“[http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html?ex=1255665600&en=890a96189e162076&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html?ex=1255665600&en=890a96189e162076&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland)”] > > …a philosophy which almost immediately and in tragi-comic fashion, crumbled into dust. If you think “RBC” is anything other than a mocking of these idiots, well… it doesn’t say much about your own thinking skills. It’s obvious who it’s mocking. If you think those doing the mockery are not capable of buying their own hype, well… it doesn’t say much about your own thinking skills. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/66 "2009-01-15T00:43:50Z")
Right, so you think it’s not more likely that he’s repeating a joke? Won’t someone donate a pint of sarcasm to this poor, poor fellow? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/67 "2009-01-15T00:47:06Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > Right, so you think it’s not more likely that he’s repeating a joke? Won’t someone donate a pint of sarcasm to this poor, poor fellow? Are you really stupid enough to be making this argument? Sometimes the truth is said in jest. -Eminem Maybe you should heed Marshall’s wise words. ;p ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/68 "2009-01-15T00:56:27Z")
Ah, so we’re entered the context-free insult-portion of the conversation. I shall bid you adieu to rage against your perceived enemies. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/69 "2009-01-15T00:57:52Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > Ah, so we’re entered the context-free insult-portion of the conversation. I shall bid you adieu to rage against your perceived enemies. It’s funny how many people actually got mad at me and accused me of being mad at them. I just know it’s kind of dishonest to claim that it’s ‘just a joke’. Anyone who reads this forum, like, at all, knows that there are plenty of liberals who truly believe they are more in touch with reality than conservatives. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/70 "2009-01-15T01:17:28Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > It’s funny how many people actually got mad at me and accused me of being mad at them. Are you really stupid enough to be making this argument? In all seriousness, you’re probably a very nice guy in person, but here you come across as errrr… not as nice a person. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/71 "2009-01-15T01:51:35Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Are you really stupid enough to be making this argument? > In all seriousness, you’re probably a very nice guy in person, but here you come across as errrr… not as nice a person. Aww well how magnanimous. 😉 I’m sure you’re a very nice person but here you come across as errrr… a nice person. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/72 "2009-01-15T10:14:38Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Anyone who reads this forum, like, at all, knows that there are plenty of liberals who truly believe they are more in touch with reality than conservatives. 😉 Should liberals apologize for this, when the bulk of conservatives deny the reality of global warming, or the validity of the theory of ‘evilution’? Or claim that tax cuts increase Federal revenues, or that Bush only invaded Iraq because the CIA misled him about WMDs? Or favor the sort of abstinence-only sex ed that claims condoms aren’t effective in preventing pregnancy or STD transmission? Or believed, at least for the duration of the campaign season, that Barack Obama was really a Muslim, or that he wasn’t born a U.S. citizen? Or believed, also for the duration of the campaign season, that the fact that Alaska is located near Russia made Sarah Palin knowledgeable about U.S.-Russian relations? ([Krista at Balloon Juice](http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=15093): “And when I look out my window I can see the moon. Doesn’t make me a fucking astronaut now, does it?”) I won’t claim to be more in touch with reality than conservatives who believe none of these things. But that’s a pretty small slice of American conservatism. Not only that, but the believers in these fallacies are largely impervious to logic, proof, or any other sort of correction in their belief in these things. Accordingly, hell yes, we liberals have every reason to believe we are more in touch with reality than the vast majority of conservatives. I will be interested in your arguments to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/73 "2009-01-15T13:02:15Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I will be interested in your arguments to the contrary. Why do you expect an argument? \*\*Mswas \*\* “voted” “for” “Obama” and can therefore “claim” that “he”'s a flaming “liberal” “himself.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/74 "2009-01-15T13:20:32Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Why do you expect an argument? \*\*Mswas \*\* “voted” “for” “Obama” and can therefore “claim” that “he”'s a flaming “liberal” “himself.” In case “Liberals For Palin” need a meeting place, I have a spare broom closet for rent. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/75 "2009-01-15T16:54:18Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Why do you expect an argument? \*\*Mswas \*\* “voted” “for” “Obama” and can therefore “claim” that “he”'s a flaming “liberal” “himself.” I am definitely not a flaming liberal. I’m just not a staunch conservative either. I think anyone who buys an off the shelf ideology is a fucking moron. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/76 "2009-01-15T17:06:15Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Should liberals apologize for this, when the bulk of conservatives deny the reality of global warming, or the validity of the theory of ‘evilution’? Or claim that tax cuts increase Federal revenues, or that Bush only invaded Iraq because the CIA misled him about WMDs? Or favor the sort of abstinence-only sex ed that claims condoms aren’t effective in preventing pregnancy or STD transmission? Or believed, at least for the duration of the campaign season, that Barack Obama was really a Muslim, or that he wasn’t born a U.S. citizen? Or believed, also for the duration of the campaign season, that the fact that Alaska is located near Russia made Sarah Palin knowledgeable about U.S.-Russian relations? ([Krista at Balloon Juice](http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=15093): “And when I look out my window I can see the moon. Doesn’t make me a fucking astronaut now, does it?”) Do you have cites for each of your claims proving that the majority of conservatives believe this? > [@](#): > > I won’t claim to be more in touch with reality than conservatives who believe none of these things. But that’s a pretty small slice of American conservatism. I see a lot of unrealistic arguments from the left too. Like if everyone suddenly stopped believing in religion we’d have whirled peas. In the coming atheist wars, I gotta tell you, I’m rooting for the otters. > [@](#): > > Not only that, but the believers in these fallacies are largely impervious to logic, proof, or any other sort of correction in their belief in these things. Sure > [@](#): > > Accordingly, hell yes, we liberals have every reason to believe we are more in touch with reality than the vast majority of conservatives. I will be interested in your arguments to the contrary. Well lets see, lets start with recently the number of, “Don’t let them cut funding for X, we need X.”, sorts of arguments, never recognizing that the state is broke. Liberals want every welfare program funded and generally act like it’s some kind of conspiracy when those programs are being cut. Liberals wear shirts with the images of murderers like Che Guevara or Mao with pride. They don’t recognize that Fidel Castro destroyed Cuba. B…b…but they have good medical care. They think that Hugo Chavez is a ‘man of the people’. They never look at the good things the US does abroad only the bad things, and never recognize that a lot of the good things and the bad things go hand in hand. ‘Look at all those people the US slaughtered in Mogadishu!’, yeah, when they were trying to capture the warlords who were organizing the raids on the UN supply convoys who were keeping them from feeding the starving. ‘Why don’t you do something in Darfur?’, because every time we do something you throw a coniption. They believe dogmatically that Polar Bears are dying out so we need to stop people from drilling for oil in Alaska, though they don’t stop driving their cars to frivolous things like the movies, even though polar bear experts who monitor them in the wild don’t think Polar bears are endangered. They carry ‘Free Mumia’, placards to Free Palestine rallies, and Free Palestine placards to Free Tibet rallies, and Free Tibet placards to Immigration rallies. They think that not electing Hillary Clinton is evidence of sexism. And don’t pull any horseshit, “You are describing leftists not liberals”, stuff, because if you are going to lump the moderate fiscal conservative with the radical right wingnut then you’ve gotta take your leftists too. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/77 "2009-01-15T18:29:20Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Well lets see… What I think is really sad is that so often, the college students you describe above turn into the adults that **RT** describes. But at least college students have an excuse for their stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/78 "2009-01-15T18:44:01Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > What I think is really sad is that so often, the college students you describe above turn into the adults that **RT** describes. > > But at least college students have an excuse for their stupidity. LOL, I’ve never met any who have made such a 180. That and the behavior I described isn’t limited to only college students. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/79 "2009-01-15T18:47:33Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > LOL, I’ve never met any who have made such a 180. Give them time. Hell, one of my friends growing up went from being a punk to listening to Rush Limbaugh all the time. He is just wrong about everything, but is by no means an idiot. You don’t know any boomers with retarded politics who claim to have been revolutionary in the 60s? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176/80 "2009-01-15T18:53:51Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > Give them time. Heh. > [@](#): > > Hell, one of my friends growing up went from being a punk to listening to Rush Limbaugh all the time. He is just wrong about everything, but is by no means an idiot. You don’t know any boomers with retarded politics who claim to have been revolutionary in the 60s? I know boomers who got more conservative, like my Uncle, but he’s a conservative Democrat. My wife’s aunt is a liberal down in Florida, was a radical leftist in college she claims. Her kids are both Republicans, one is a lawyer like his Dad also Republican, and the other works for ICE. My die-hard Republican Father voted for Barack Obama. Most boomers I know who were hippy leftists are generally still hippy leftists, or at the most conservative Democrats like my Uncle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-vs-the-anchorage-daily-news-or-palling-around-with-the-facts/481176.md?page=5)