Ignorance is Bliss
Ben has a nice compilation of media figures saying Sarah Palin’s ignorance of what the “Bush Doctrine” refers to isn’t a big deal because, hey, most people don’t know. Check it out:
One thing to say about this is that the whole notion that what professional news media ought to consist of is highly compensated on-air personalities chit-chatting with each other about how something is likely to “play” with ordinary folks is bizarre. Rather than paying people to guess what regular people would think about things, CNN could just fire a bunch of its on air staff and pull random people in off the streets to say what they think. It’s also paradoxical because, of course, any given news event isn’t actually seen by most people. How it plays depends a lot on how the media plays it.
Beyond that, the notion that it would be okay for high-ranking public officials to have no better understanding of policy issues than does the average person is bizarre. When you get someone to fix your car, you want that person to know more about fixing cars than do most people. Houses are designed by architects and actually put together by a whole bunch of specialists — plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc. — who know more about what they’re doing than do most people. That doesn’t mean the building trades are dominated by a shadowy elite that the rest of us need to overthrow, it just reflects the benefits of the division of labor. There’s no need for politics to be totally controlled by some narrow cabal of credentialed experts, but at a minimum it would be nice for policymakers to be people who’ve been paying attention to policy debates.
106 Responses to “Ignorance is Bliss”
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September 12th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Jay Leno pulls random people off the street to answer questions, but most don’t know who the VP is. Some don’t know the name of our planet. The chit-chatters on the cable networks are indeed infuriating, but that’s why God gave us mute buttons.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Petition Demanding That Senator John McCain Sell 12 Of His 13 Homes
I just wrote this petition to answer McCain’s obnoxious and idiotic bid to become President of our United States. Please sign it and e-mail it to everyone you know!! Let’s get everyone we can in America to sign this thing before the election!
September 12th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Rather than paying people to guess what regular people would think about things, CNN could just fire a bunch of its on air staff on pull random people in off the streets to say what they think.
But that would take all the mystery out of it!
Kidding aside, a “man on the street” reaction wouldn’t be useful either, unless it were sufficiently randomized and used a large sample. In other words, a poll.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
pirating from an earlier thread:
Charlie Gibson asked Obama about the Bush Doctrine last winter. David Gergen should be made to watch that january 2008 debate Clockwork Orange style, over and over again.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200801080001
GIBSON: I’m going to go to the others in a moment, but what you just outlined is essentially the Bush doctrine: We can attack if we want to, no matter the sovereignty of the Pakistanis.
OBAMA: No, that is not the same thing, because here we have a situation where Al Qaeda, a sworn enemy of the United States, that killed 3,000 Americans and is currently plotting to do the same, is in the territory of Pakistan. We know that.
And so, you know, this is not speculation. This is not a situation where we anticipate a possible threat in the future. And my job as commander-in-chief will be to make sure that we strike anybody who would do America harm when we have actionable intelligence do to that.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Someone needs to ask Palin why she attended five colleges in six years. Did it have to do with her grades?
September 12th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
So Gibson told Obama the Bush Doctrine means that “we can attack if we want to, no matter the sovereignty…” I’ve never heard that formulation, but if he thinks that’s what it is, he could have easily added that description to his question. Instead he asked a deliberately vague question, hoping she would be confused. Gotcha!
September 12th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
But “most people” aren’t running for freakin’ vice president, are they?
September 12th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
It’s also obvious that David Gergen and Juan Williams are both completely confused on the subject. A pre-emptive attack (think Israel in the Six Day War of 1967) is seen as legitimate both under the UN Charter and international law.
Preventative war, deciding that an unfriendly state may, at some unspecified time in the future carry out some form of hostile act against us, and therefore launching a war against that state, is entirely different.
And this isn’t just some arcane theoretical point. Attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, by Israel or the United States (or anyone else) would be acts of preventative war. They’d also be stupid, but that’s another topic.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
…highly compensated on-air personalities chit-chatting with each other about how something is likely to “play” with ordinary folks is bizarre.
The same folks who actually believed Fred Thompson was a credible candidate and tried to make people swallow that turdburger.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
to E O’Neal
the point is not whether Charlie Gibson understands what the Bush Doctrine is. clearly he does not – didn’t when he asked Obama, didn’t when he asked Palin.
the point is that he asked both Palin and Obama. he asked them in different ways, true, but he asked both of them in misleading ways, and Obama could speak to the issue with accuracy, while Palin was clueless.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Poor Matthew — he’s discovered that the REpublicans can make up lies faster than he can refute them.
Socrates never had that problem. Of course, the Republicans fixed Socrates’ wagon.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Right-wing, populist types are hostile to the notion that our political leaders ought to be professionals, that it’s a calling just like being a doctor or a minister. They think that anyone can do the job, as long as that person has the right worldview. The enthusiasm surrounding Palin is proof of this: “she’s just like us” is what they like most about her.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I’m sorry. But this whole “Bush Doctrine” gotcha is childish and pedantic, and completely ineffective. There are surely many people with a very comprehensive knowledge of global affairs, and sound judgment about how to conduct those affairs, who have never heard the quasi-academic term “The Bush Doctrine”. There are also no doubt many college sophomores who got full credit on the “What is the Bush Doctrine?” question on their IR final, but who couldn’t go beyond the most superficial textbook level in describing conditions in Iran or Georgia or Russia or China.
We are all quite convinced that Palin knows next to nothing about global affairs, and I’m sure that conviction will be born out eventually. But this little Bush Doctrine affair conveys the impression of a bunch of nerds who were all primed to have a big “Ah Ha!” orgasm over a bad Palin foreign policy answer, and who have prematurely ejaculated all over themselves from the lightest and most insignificant touch.
Let’s wait to get some more serious action, shall we?
September 12th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Right-wing, populist types are hostile to the notion that our political leaders ought to be professionals, that it’s a calling just like being a doctor or a minister.
To be fair, many right-wingers don’t regard being a minister as something that requires any sort of particular qualifications, either.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Speaking of ignorance, Mark Penn just weighed in with some advice for Obama: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/11/politics/politicalplayers/main4442492.shtml
I think it’s safe to say that Obama should carefully listen to whatever recommendations Penn makes and do the exact opposite.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
The random person on the street, asked “do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?” might answer, “Maybe, CHARlie. What the f**k is the Bush Doctrine?” If Palin is so much like the random peson on the street, why didn’t she ask Gibson for clarification immediately, instead of winging it?
September 12th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Wow! The Messiah stepped in it today. He has a new ad out ridiculing McCain for not using a computer. It turns out the Boston Globe reported in 2000 that McCain is unable to use a keyboard because of his war injuries. http://corner.com/
Read Jonah Goldberg’s post at 6:42 PM.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Sorry about the bad link. http://corner.nationalreview.com/
September 12th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Recalling our prior comparisons between political reporters and sports reporters, describing the reaction to an event is their version of describing the outcome of a particular play or game–call it their scorekeeping mode. The problem as we previously noted is that outcomes in politics are less definitive (short of actual elections). As Jay Andrew Allen suggests, the ideal for political reporters in scorekeeping mode would be a poll to talk about, but obviously they can’t poll everything (even with their little unscientific polls). So, they just guess a lot of the time, knowing the lack of verifiable outcomes shields them from correction.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
What really impressed me was that it didn’t even occur to her that the ‘Bush Doctrine’ had to be some particular position Bush had staked out on foreign policy. Anyone who’s heard of the Monroe Doctrine or Nixon Doctrine or Truman Doctrine would know that. But she, never having heard of those things, just interpreted it in the plain-language sense of Bush’s ‘worldview.’
September 12th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
The first link was much better, O’Neal. For that matter, so’s this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffmcneill/2787141149/sizes/o/
You’re really going to present that argument, when McCain has been embarrassing himself for months now, exploiting his POW record to excuse screw-up after screw-up? That’s too rich! And that doesn’t even cover how people with much worse disabilities can and do use computers (even blind people do!). Not to mention that the problem isn’t with McCain not being physically able to send email – it’s that he doesn’t know what it is! You do know there are these magical things such as “books” and “experts” that allow you to know things without having to physically go through them yourself, don’t you?
September 12th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
From the Telegraph.
McCain states that he is learning to get online, implying that he has the physical capability to operate a computer. He further implies that he could send email but chooses not to.
So, possible conclusions include: (1) he lied to the Globe reporter in 2000; (2) he was lying at that press event earlier this year (implying he could use a computer when he’s physically incapable of doing so); (3) or he’s chosen to remain ignorant of a basic form of modern communication.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Did you know he can’t tie his shoes or comb his hair? He doesn’t like to talk about his disabilities. I know from someone very close to the family that they are severe. I don’t think this is an argument Obama wants to have.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Did you know that people without the ability to use their arms at all are able to operate computers and send email?
September 12th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Here’s another link. Not much new information, but this is going to bite Barry in the ass. http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/12/why-cant-mccain-email/
September 12th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Actually, most houses aren’t designed by architects, they are designed by developers. It’s kind of like having your government run by lobbyists.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
JLB, yeah, he’s just a slacker.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Gawd, I just saw Mark Shields agree with David Brooks that
1) The computer-illiteracy ad by Obama is a bad play because it insults the unwashed. (If, as I believe, this election will be fought and won or lost in the nation’s suburbs, this is utter nonsense–the “country” vote is already McCain’s; suburbanites live and die on MySpace, YouTube, and a zillion porn sites.)
2) And more egregiously, the widespread mocking of Sarah Palin for her ignorance of the Bush Doctrine is way over the top and unfair. Nuf said.
Mark Shields is a quisling. He was worse than useless when Bush was faking the nation into the Iraq War. He just fundamentally doesn’t understand foreign policy.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
So that’s what he meant when he says “I’ll have to have my staff get back to you about that”?
He’s just proving that he’s living in his own little reality,
“Divorced”, to use his own word, from day to day operations of the real world.
Sounds alot like GWB
September 12th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
This is pretty much the heart of the problem with our media and even democracy. Nothing is actually covered; everything is meta-covered. They don’t talk about the objective facts, just what they believe the reaction would be to the facts, if they were ever covered, thus fulfilling the prediction that it won’t be seen as important.
It could be dubbed the Yglesias Media Paradox, it’s so circular one’s almost afraid Wolf Blitzer will disrupt his own parents’ meeting destroying the space time continuum
September 12th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Instapundit is laughing at Barry’s big blunder. http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/
September 12th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
admit it, matt — you’re just jealous of palin because she’s dumb and you’re not!
September 12th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Damn! Obama’s pulled the “McCain can’t use a computer” ad from TV and the internet.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I’m not one to minimize disabilities, but the fact that his injuries limit his use of a keyboard does not mean he is physically unable to use one. If he can grasp an object and move his hand, he can use a mouse. If he can put even the smallest amount of pressure on anything with any of his fingers (an ability to grasp an object would seem to imply this), he can press keys on a keyboard. I can assure you that if every one of my fingers but one was blown off tomorrow I would still use a computer everyday.
You may not think that his non-use of computers is not a big deal, or that it is a political mistake to raise the issue, and I could see how someone would come to that conclusion. But the paragraphs from the articles you are talking about do not prove that he is completely unable to use a computer or a keyboard, so please don’t act like they do.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
strike the not from the first sentence of the second paragraph in my comment.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Look, being President is like playing “Who wants to be a Millionaire”. You get “Ask the audience” and “Call a friend” and “Fifty-fifty”. It was unfair to expect Sarah to answer questions without any help. She should have been able to call a friend in Alaska. I bet she knew somebody who might know what the Bush doctrine is. Then Charlie could have said “Is that your final answer?” That would have been the fair thing to do.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
His fingers were broken by the North Vietnamese. It’s too painful to type. Don’t you bet there’s sheer panic in the Obama campaign tonight? Here’s another great link. http://ace.mu.nu/archives/273335.php
September 12th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
bobbo, it turned out today that no one knows what the Bush Doctrine is. There were about four iterations. Charlie was laying a trap, but it didn’t spring.
The line of attack today is that McCain can’t use a computer because the North Vietnamese broke all his fingers, and we certainly don’t want someone like that in the White House.
Maybe it’s time for Obama to release his college and law school grades.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
How many times do people have to point out that PEOPLE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO USE OF THEIR ARMS USE COMPUTERS EVERY DAY TO SEND EMAIL, AMONG OTHER THINGS.
Given the conflicting statements that I listed above, McCain is (as is now the proven pattern) telling different stories to different people (i.e. LYING) or he’s simply chosen to remain ignorant of a modern form of communication.
I look forward to your continuing trollish decision to ignore basic facts.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund is stepping up, airing TV commercials (beginning in Denver & Pittsburg) asking if John McCain is opposed to helping children protect themselves from child molesters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGBa-4ufCFg
September 12th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
John McCain had absolutely no e-mail access when he was in a box for 5 1/2 years, so SHUT UP! POW!!!
September 12th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Right out of Plato’s Republic — Socrates is going around and interrogating people as to who is best suited to build ships, etc., leading up to who should be head of state. (Plato was highly anti-democratic, but leave that aside for now.)
The “man/woman on the street” meme is infuriating. The WP ran a Style article about moms who were interviewed about Sarah Palin and said they found her inspiring as a person. They didn’t know anything about her political issues and the recent criticisms. It’s all election-year politics, blah blah.
As for her college record, I detect a pattern, followed by her firing various people when mayor of Wasilla and governor of Alaska. She isn’t stupid, so it doesn’t seem likely to be her grades, but her inability to cooperate with people, another major reason why students switch schools.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
There’s no point in replying to trolls, but McCain’s computer illiteracy is chosen, not forced.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
J-Lo, you’re right. Steven Hawking is an inspiration to us all. I imagine that if McCain’s livelihood depended on computer use, he would have found a way. I look forward to Barry making that argument.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I really don’t care that McCain doesn’t do e-mail. Would somehow him e-mailing his awful policies and fraudulent campaigning directly, versus having functionaries do it, improve anything?
September 12th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
There should have been a link there, but I’ve expended too much effort already.
Search “wired mccain internet.”
September 12th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
The issue is that McCain does not know how to use the internet or e-mail, not whether he is a bad typist. He’s stuck in the past, is not a forward thinker and is not very curious. Not a good bet for taking this country into the future.
I love how the GOP pulls out the victimization card these days, sexism, discrimination against religion, discrimination against disabilities.
Whiners all.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Oh, I forgot the other victimization card directly relevant to this post – discrimination against dumb people.
Whiners.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Wow: Moron Junction, Ace O. Spades, Malkin, Instacracker… that’s the whole set!
‘E’ has come out as just a fucking wingnut spammer.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Mary, I’ve never understood why the Dems don’t make more of an issue of “discrimination against dumb people” — after all, that’s their base.
I have to agree with you completely: McCain’s inability to use the internet is a killer issue. His disability is no excuse at all. The millions of other Americans who don’t surf the web should also be ridiculed.
I just can’t understand why Barry’s pulling that ad. It seemed like such a winner. Oh, well, he still has McCain’s age. There’s no excuse for someone being so old. Why isn’t he in a home? Also, McCain knows zilch about community organizing.
There’s still time to turn this thing around. There are still two Palin children that we know hardly anything about.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
pseudo, you can’t make fun of me. I know how to use the internet! I can send e-mail! The North Vietnamese didn’t smash my fingers.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Oh, and ‘E’?
Get a friend or a grown-up to show you the ‘Accessibility’ menu on your computer, you tedious troll.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
The Democrats’ base is dumb people? Hmmm. I really, really don’t think it was Democrats backing over piles of Dixie Chicks CD’s and pouring French wine into streets to show that they HATE HATE HATE people who disliked our batsh*t shameful destruction of Iraq in the name of lies about WMD.
And I don’t think it has been Democrats loudly announcing their fear and derision for green, leafy vegetables which have been eaten in Western culture for the last 2,000 years.
No, that was all the party of Xtreme Ignorance, the Republican Party, which if it could make Stupid an Olympic event, might clean up handily.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Matthew:
I just read your posting out loud to my wife. Brilliant. Thank you.
BTW, this may be the first time in ages I have seen someone anywhere refer to “the division of labor.” Great stuff.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
pseudo, I don’t have any friends or know any grown-ups. I’m just a tedious troll hiding under a bridge waiting for goats. But I have a laptop.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
El Cid, IIRC, you guys lost the 2000 election because your “base” in Jacksonville and south Florida was too stupid to fill out their ballots correctly. So, far from me to knock stupidity.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
I go to mainstream news sites like CNN or new york times, ect., to read comments. some are from people like us but, many are from the ‘average voter’ as well. it’s good to see what people are thinking.
alot better then reporters inside the beltway bubble or NY city saying what people, like where I live, are thinking. I can say that 95% of the time they are wrong. In the midwest they are hardly the rubes and dumbfounded dummies. Many are very intelligent, savvy and have a totally different opinion then what the ‘journalist’ say they are thinking.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I don’t think this is an argument Obama wants to have.
I’m guessing that is why you brought it up in the thread here. But even though Obama may not want to have it, I’m happy to engage it a little.
Stephen Hawking can use the internet, but John McCain is too injured to do it? Maybe he can’t afford the proper assistive devices? A guy in 2008 talking about learning to get online is, in fact, behind the times, in a pretty humorous way.
It may seem insensitive for Obama to say it this way. Heck, it might even be insensitive. And goodness knows that we wouldn’t want to step on the feelings of John McCain, Easily Offended Maverick ™.
But it’s not actually wrong.
Meanwhile, Palin’s extremely poorly formulated answers to Gibson’s questions (both vague and non-vague) weren’t so much a gotcha as a clue that she has no clue.
Did you catch the part about how, with some work, war might not be a first option anymore? How she would never second guess Israel, ever? Her actually repeating the dumb-ass assertion that being able to “see” Russia is a foreign policy qualification? Her contention that Russia attacked Georgia unprovoked? (A statement like this, on a topic that is deeply disputed and quite controversial, begs for some explanation that she didn’t supply, even though Gibson waited an extra beat for her to continue).
You don’t need a gotcha, here. The sheer lack of knowledge was impressive all on its own, even if it doesn’t make for a good soundbite.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Mary, this is in reply to your claim that McCain doesn’t know how to use the internet. From Forbes Magazine in 2000:
In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate’s savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. “She’s a whiz on the keyboard, and I’m so laborious,” McCain admits.
http://www.forbes.com/asap/2000/0529/053_print.html
Wouldn’t you think the Obamites could have found this out for themselves? Don’t they know how to Google? Is it too late to pull a Torricelli/Lautenberg switch? I’m a Republican, but I’m embarrassed for you people. That is, when I’m not laughing.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
The injuries I have received make it painful but not impossible for me to type. Instead I dictate responses that my C*%T types on a laptop. “She’s a good little trollop on the keyboard, and I lie so much,” McCain admits.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Brad L, please read my post directly below yours on McCain and the internet. The whole line of attack is bogus. Heads will roll.
If you think Georgia somehow picked a fight with its giant neighbor, please read this article. I promise it will change your opinion. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/08/the-truth-about-1.php
September 12th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
What me worry?
If you think the US somehow picked a fight with a tiny far-away country with a huge Oil supply, please read this article. I promise it will change your opinion.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/02/974014.aspx
September 12th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Funny thing is, the guy who coined the term ‘Bush doctrine’ says it’s Charlie Gibson who doesn’t know what it means. Jus’ sayin’…
September 13th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Wow, O’Neal – you’re the hardest working troll in show business! You’re going to get enough McCain points for that windbreaker for sure!
And I especially love how, after 20+ posts of your nonsense, you give out some nice helpful links. Like there’s anyone reading this going, “oh look – the obsessive clown posted a link. I can’t wait to click on it and see what the troll has to show me!” That’s comedy gold, dude. Even funnier than your overlords having to go back to 2000 to give you any evidence McCain knows anything about email.
I really hope you don’t wear out all your efforts on one messageboard topic, so that we can enjoy your comedy stylings for posts and posts to come.
September 13th, 2008 at 12:01 am
E #61 (the real one):
I saw that Forbes article too. It does make his later comments, that he is just now learning how to get around the internet, seem pretty odd. But again, I just think it is funny that he can’t “get online” himself. It is not a world-shaking issue (anymore than the houses were), but neither does it fall into some “OMG, he was a POW so we can’t say that” special category.
People get online (even disabled ones) all the time, and he can’t, on his own anyway. By his own admission, no less. You made an allusion to the fact that he can’t tie his shoes, but I’m pretty sure that, unlike this, he actually knows how to in that case. But it would be a shame to hurt his poor feelings.
If you think Georgia somehow picked a fight with its giant neighbor, please read this article.
I will do that in the morning (I am calling it for the night), but a quick glance showed this:
If this is even a reasonable characterization, that “virtually everyone” thinks it (or even my lesser claim, that its a controversial position), then if you are going to assert the counter position, you should bring a reason or two to the table, not just make a bold declaration of fact and let it go. That’s the goofy part.
September 13th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Funny thing is, the guy who coined the term ‘Bush doctrine’ says it’s Charlie Gibson who doesn’t know what it means. Jus’ sayin’…
Gosh that is funny! Did he also say the ‘Bush doctrine’ involves staring like you don’t know what the hell was just asked, and then babbling randomly for two minutes? Because in that case, Palin has the Bush doctrine down cold.
Or did he express concern that a candidate for Vice President of the United States knows less about our foreign policy than the host of “Good Morning America”?
September 13th, 2008 at 12:16 am
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but post #62 is some other idiot — not me. He can’t even punctuate my name properly.
September 13th, 2008 at 12:19 am
There is an excellent article in the current NY Review of Books by George Friedman, explaining the new balance of power vis a vis Russia. Altho not mentioning McCain or Palin, it highlights how irresponsible their speech is about Russia. It actually plays into Russia’s plan, as it emphasizes how meaningless American rhetoric is, now that we have no capability to respond to Russian initiatives, since we are tied down in Iraq and Afghanistan. All of Russia’s neighbors will note this, and recalibrate their relationship with the US.
September 13th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Oh, and #60 is also bogus. My stellar reputation on this blog is at stake. I think I’ll post as a1 from now on.
September 13th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Yay! I made enough posts to win a Sarah Palin Actin Figure.
http://www.johnmccain.com/ActionCenter/BlogInteract/BlogInteract.aspx
September 13th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Uh-oh. Now the fake E. O’Neal has learned not to push the space bar between the O and the apostrophe. But here’s a good rule of thumb: If the post is witty, erudite and spot-on, it’s mine. He or she gets credit for all the ones that are, how shall I put it, stupid.
September 13th, 2008 at 3:32 am
I have a master’s degree in International Relations, and, to be honest, I couldn’t have told you what the Bush Doctrine was.
I knew the doctrine of preventative war, the “treat states that harbor terrorists as terrorists” doctrine, the “with us or against us” doctrine, and the 1% doctrine. Honestly, if Charlie Gibson had asked me that question, I wouldn’t have known which he was referring to.
Timothy Noah in today’s Slate seems to offer some evidence that this isn’t just my ignorance, there actually wasn’t any real consensus on which of the various failed overarching foreign-policy principles had officially secured the label of “The Bush Doctrine”
Now, she did flub the question, and she did come off as clueless. She remains dangerously unprepared. But the actual not-knowing-the-Bush-Doctrine bit wasn’t as bad as the optics suggest.
—
O’Neal, ease up on the Messiah crap. It’s annoying, and, frankly, McCain’s the one running on the premise that he’s oh-so-very-special.
Constant name-calling, unrelated to your immediate point, is not a constructive way to engage in discussion about a presidential campaign (the same could be said if I were to refer to “McSame”– it’s just juvenile)
September 13th, 2008 at 5:29 am
Regarding the “butterfly ballot”, I am entirely willing to spot E. O’Neal the argument that Floridians are stupid.
I will also give Republicans credit: though Republicans excel at Stupid while Democrats play at it, Republicans manage to combine staggering Stupid with mind-blowing amounts of Arrogant and Criminal.
September 13th, 2008 at 7:44 am
That excuse is exactly what a few Republicans in my family have used! They are the typical Republican voters who were very unenthused about McCain but are ecstatic over Palin. A clip of that Gibson interview came on, and it was like we were actually watching two different interviews! I – an independent leaning strongly towards Obama – saw a woman who didn’t know something that a VP candidate is supposed to know. They saw a woman being asked an extremely vague question. They actually asked me, “Well do YOU know what the “Bush doctrine” is?” I kept saying, “No, but I’M NOT RUNNING FOR VICE PRESIDENT!” We both did agree on one thing, though: McCain is definitely going to win in November. This thrills them, but only because of Palin. It makes me physically ill.
September 13th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I know quadriplegics who e-mail. Not that it’s important, but just sayin’ . . .
September 13th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Yay, I’m a Republican and I like ignorant monkeys! Let’s vote for two more!!
I mean come on! We had a Rhodes scholar in Clinton then a dolt with a c-average who doesn’t like to read in Bush. Anyone with a real brain knows where that got America financially.
So the GOP gives us another candidate for their side who probably can’t remember past his one-room schoolhouse days, bottom of the totem pole in his military education, can’t remember what kind of car he owns or how many houses he has, nor function on the internet, nor stay on one course of conversation. Forget the idiot running for their side for the vice-presidential slot, focus on the idiot they want to be president! Grandpa Gump will be another puppet and so will Caribou Barbie. And don’t say that they will be smart enough to have people around them to help them when they are not intelligent enough to manage them themselves.
September 13th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Rather than paying people to guess what regular people would think about things, CNN could just fire a bunch of its on air staff on pull random people in off the streets to say what they think.
But Anderson and Greta are so good looking!
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:03 pm
While Palin clearly does know ‘the bush doctrine’ is because it’s a key plank of her foreign policy, she just doesn’t know the name for it.
It seems the former is the much bigger issue than the latter, her not knowing the name doesn’t really mitigate the problem.
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