Saturday, October 25, 2008

Bipartisanship We Can Believe In


Even if she didn't really mean it, I appreciate the gesture.


(Photo by Max Whittaker/Getty Images)

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you have a daughter I hope she never has to face the hate, slander and ridicule that this woman has. What if the media made fun of Michelle Obama the way they have of Sarah.

Anonymous said...

Umm..Michelle Obama isn't running for any office. If she were, I expect that she would face the same scrutiny and, at times, hard criticism.

And, Gruntled's daugthers are so unquestionably intelligent that no one would ridicule them. ; )

Gruntled said...

Amen. (And I thank you on behalf of Megblum and Endub; as a father, I couldn't agree more :-). )

Anonymous said...

I'm sure his daughters are very intelligent. But they would only escape ridicule if they ran for the Media's favorite party, otherwise they would be put through the wringer.

Anonymous said...

It wouldn't matter if Megblum and Endub were Mensa material if they were conservative like Sarah is.They would be ridiculed and treated with no dignity. A lot of voters are silently waiting to vote for Sarah. Maybe even a silent majority.

Anonymous said...

Go Alice!
My redneck friends and I have already put down our guns and Bibles but not our antipathy for those who would take our country in a wrong direction, and voted!

Gruntled said...

The point of this humorous Saturday post is to praise bipartisanship.

Anonymous said...

Yeah right. Me too.

JMott said...

I recognized the light tone with which this post started, but was kind of suprised (not really) at the initial reactions by our anonymous posters.

How has Palin's treatment been different than that which McCain treats Obama (ie. slander, half-truths, etc.)? In the last 4 weeks, 100% of McCains ads have been attacks (not in the whole campaign as Obama misspoke in the recent debate). How is that not hate, slander, and ridcule? Double standard anyone?

To be quite honest, I'm leery of anyone willing to put themself under such scrutiny for a position such as this. However, if you wish to do so you have to expect that some negative things will be said; especially when you (Palin) have a long history of abusing your authority and misusing government funds.

Where's a good philosopher king when you need one?

Anonymous said...

"Where's a good philosopher king when you need one?"

I guess vote for Obama then but I'm just looking for a president that will be good for America. So I'll be voting for McCain. No hard feelings though, O.K.?

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

The philosopher king comment wasn't an endorsement of either candidate...I guess it was actually a jab at both. The prerequisite for the philosopher king is that he/she doesn't want the job in the first place, but simply accepts the position for the good of the republic. A lofty ideal, but a worthy one at least.

Another lofty ideal is that emotions/feelings can be left out of political debate, so Bubba, I hope to never take offense to someone expressing their beliefs/ideas and there is certainly none taken in this instance. The etymology of "emotion" should indicate its lack of a place in politics, but it nonetheless seems to stir up the worst of our emotions when a reasonable solution is what we usually need. I hope that our emotions can simply give us the motivation to find that reasonable answer. I see some emotion in my first response, so I guess I'd be best served to follow my own advice.

I also looked up some other accounts of this scarf bi-partisanship. It suddenly appeared in the rope line and, according to several reporters, students, and student-reporters, nobody realized it had donkeys on it until later. Palin just threw it around her neck when it was handed to her. Pretty funny actually...I would laugh if the same happened on the other side of the aisle.

Happy Monday

Corky said...

Governor Palin seems a good sport and I'm sure she will laugh later if she refers to the animals as donkeys not mules, etc.

I do agree with anonymous and Alice, she has been attacked in a very ruthless manner. Pictures of her head on others' bodies, naked, etc. If this were happening to any other candidate, particularly the presidential candidates, there would be a serious uproar.

So, in the spirit of praising bipartisanship, lets praise this candidate regardless of party for her courage and poise.

Gruntled said...

It is happening to every other candidate. And always has. 19th politics was much worse, more scurrilous, more personal, than today's politics. I am not defending any slander on anyone; I am only arguing for a sense of proportion.

Corky said...

Interesting response. So instead of critiquing and/or chastising it sounds like defending on the concept that it has happened before.

Come on professor. Just today I read about the "Halloween prank" of hanging Gov. Palin in effigy in West Hollywood.

When done with others this has been called hate crime and people have been prosecuted.

It is never wrong to question policy, that is important and vital to a healthy democracy. Questioning policy and labeling policy as constitutional, legal, illegal, socialistic, communistic, etc is acceptable.

Mocking personhood is not and should never be condoned nor supported. A good sense of humor is one thing, but nude paintings of our elected officials being hung in bars, psuedo lynching our politicians is indefensible.

JMott said...

For every sexist Palin creation, I've seen a racist and/or religiously degrading creation at Obama's expense. Am I saying fair is fair and who cares, of course not. I think what Beau is saying is that the unfair treatment argument just doesn't stand up when you look at what is going on with the other side as well. For every ridiculous blog on one side, there's another on the opposite side. For every harsh criticism on CNN, there's one on Fox News.

It's unacceptable on both sides, but the bottom line is that it is both sides. Trash is easy, JibJab is difficult, so unfortunately you'll just see more trash than wit.

Gruntled said...

Nicely said, Nick.

Corky said...

I'm taking to heart Mark M's comments about having time set aside for writing, hence the prolific posts.

I have not seen, nor do I hope to see, the equal bashing of candidates. You say it's there, but I have not read about it in our local papers, nor seen it on CNN, ABC, NBC, nor FOX.

I've yet to hear of Obama or Biden or McCain being hung in effigy, or called divas, or painted in their birthday suits (yikes! and again, I do not hope to either!) or buffooned in porn films. Enough from one side is more than enough.

At least I think I am hearing you say, attacks on personhood are wrong. On that we do agree!

JMott said...

I'm really not trying to stir the pot or point fingers; merely backing up my claim from earlier:

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=9ceff004-a04b-455b-8d59-0275d77d0579

Anonymous said...

Looks like authorities took it down instantly rather than showing it for days and days. I bet the mayor didn't show up to convince the perps to take it down either. I am sure there is no double standard though. Nick you don't have to make excuses when you post. We are all friends here.