Palin's Concession Speech

It's a long tradition in American politics that you trash your opponent to the depths of hell, and then, as soon as you lose, you say, "Just kidding!", and encourage everyone to work together and support the winner. Thankfully, Obama didn't fall for the trashing this time. But McCain gave a very kind and well-crafted concession speech, speaking well of Obama and speaking well for himself. He is to be congratulated for being magnanimous in defeat.

Lost in this is Palin's speech- which in this last campaign is rather important. She was the pit bull of the McCain campaign, in the traditional role of a Vice-Presidential candidate. But she was a different kind of pit bull, repeatedly raising lies and false allegations, unrepentantly allowing a climate of hate and terrorism to develop at her rallies. She had a loyal following, devoted to her, and not McCain. To Palin's credit, she wanted to speak on concession night, but was denied the opportunity by the McCain campaign.

Yet, it is now two days since the election. She isn't on the McCain campaign leash any longer. She can say what she wants. She has shown a sudden willingness to have impromptu press conferences. What is she waiting for? When are we going to hear from Governor Palin about how the country should come together, that we should support Obama, and she didn't mean all that stuff she said about him, and he's not actually a terrorist or friend of terrorists?

Shame on you, Governor Palin, that we have to call you to do what you should have done without naturally.

Palin/McCain Anti-Semitism

Have you heard? Yes- they went even further. A blatant, public display of the anti-Semitism of the Palin/McCain campaign.

Today, they started speaking of Obama's close association with Professor Rashid Khalidi. Now, in this case, unlike with William Ayers, he actually has a relationship- Rashid and Barack are friends. Rashid's not an advisor for Barack, but rather a fellow parent at Obama's school. And Dr. Khalidi is not only a professor of Arab studies, but has the prestigious Edward Said chair at Columbia. (Dr. Said was perhaps the world's foremost historian of Middle Eastern studies.)

Now Palin is accusing Dr. Khalidi of being a spokesman for the PLO, which she calls a terrorist organization. Therefore, according to Palin and McCain, Obama is, they think, again fraternizing with terrorists. So let's go over the facts, shall we?

The PLO is not a terrorist organization. It is an organization fighting to liberate the Palestinian people. It has at times turned to violence, and in the distant past, was terrorist. It has renounced those activities. I know that hard-line Zionists will disagree with this, but this blog post isn't written for them. The PLO now runs the Palestinian government, and Israel deals with them. The PLO was also dealt with directly by Presidents Clinton and Bush I. Governor Palin, do you also accuse President Clinton, President Bush, and Israel of fraternizing with terrorists? (Yes, I know you salivate for the first, but do you honestly go all the way?) And surely the governor knows that the designation of the PLO as a terrorist organization by George II is very controversial, and many, many foreign policy experts consider the designation incorrect? Well, actually, perhaps she's not aware of that.

But, some will say, the PLO was once a terrorist organization, and once terrorist, always terrorist. Have you ever heard of the Irgun Gang? It was an extreme Zionist organization, which used exceptionally violent means to form the State of Israel back in the 40's, including bombings and murder of civilians. The terrorist designation was done by Britain, which at time controlled the Palestinian Mandate. Nearly every Prime Minister and President of Israel was at one time associated with this gang. But perhaps Palin still considers them all terrorists as well? Or perhaps she feels that sometimes governments make mistakes in designating freedom fighting groups as terrorists?

Oh, and lest I forget- Dr. Khalidi has never been a spokesman for the PLO, or the Palestinian government. He does speak of the right for Palestinians to be free, and that attacks by Israel on Palestinian civilians are a violation of international law. He has said that Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories. He has spoken against Zionist groups who seek to silence free speech and debate on these issues. All positions that most of the world accepts- accept for some in Israel and America. All legitimate viewpoints, that reasonable people can disagree on, including Barack Obama.

I understand that Sarah Palin and her running mate might not agree with Dr. Khalidi. But they seem to have taken a page from George II, where, if anyone doesn't agree with them, they are a terrorist. This is nothing short of academic oppression. Palin and McCain don't want anyone speaking out against the practices of Israel. But more than that, they seek to silence them, just like the Zionist groups that Dr. Khalidi speaks against. They not only don't agree, they not only don't want to hear the opposing viewpoints- they seek to label the opposing viewpoints as "terrorist", so that the worst appellation in modern America is applied, and the other no longer has a voice. And since President Carter has also pointed out flaws in the Israeli government, even to the point of calling their system apartheid, because, as Carter says, you tell a friend when they are going wrong, one would have to assume that Palin would also consider President Carter a terrorist.

Let us be clear. Palin and McCain again seek to go negative and attack Obama. This time they seek to attack Obama by saying he is a friend of someone who has supported Palestinian state and human rights. They seek to call this man a terrorist and falsely claim he spoke for the PLO, and then they seek to claim the PLO is terrorist. They do this because they believe that anyone who speaks against injustice in Israel and Palestine, anyone who speaks for the Palestinians, is wrong, is colluding with terrorists, and should be silenced. It is not just that you must support the rights of Jews and Israelis (certainly something should all support), but for Palin and McCain, the rights of the Palestinians should be limited.

My friends, there is a name for this. It is anti-Palestinian. It is anti-Arab. And since Palestinians are Arab, and Arabs are Semites, it is also Anti-Semitic. Probably not any worse than being racist, but it's good to call a spade a spade.

Vote Palin-McCain. The Anti-Semitic Ticket.

President Palin? (No, the other one.)

Today, in the ongoing Troopergate investigation, it was revealed that Governor Palin's husband, Todd, repeatedly tried to get government officials to fire his former brother-in-law. The problem is, Governor Palin didn't know a thing about this.

I'm fine with a spouse being involved in governing with the governing spouse. I thought it was very cool that Hillary was so involved in President Clinton's government. But there was no doubt who was in charge- the one elected President. I'm glad if Todd is involved with Palin's work. But it raises other rather disturbing issues.

The Religious Right is far more comfortable with Todd being involved with Sarah than they were with Hillary being involved with Bill. This is just blatant sexism. There is this belief that it's just fine if the man who wasn't elected is involved with government, but not if the woman who wasn't elected. Remember all the screams of rage that the Religious Right had at the thought of a woman (Hillary) having actually work to do when Bill was President.

This also raises the question of how well Sarah Palin governs. Todd is involved- great. But Todd is involved, and Sarah doesn't know what Todd is doing?!? That is the clear testimony he gave today. (I'm assuming he's not lying.) That means that her husband is going around doing things in government, and the Governor has no knowledge of it! Let us leave aside the question of what kind of marriage this is. What kind of Governor is this? How can we trust her to be Vice-President if she has that weak of understanding and control as Governor?

But it gets far worse than this. For, if McCain were elected, we all know there is a great chance that he would die in office, of old age. If we elected McCain, we are also almost assuredly electing a President Palin. And many are disturbed with this notion, because we have no idea who the real Palin is- we've known her for five weeks, with few interviews or opportunities to get to know her. But now, it would appear that precedent would suggest that a Vice-President or President Sarah Palin would also involve substantial work by a First Gentleman Todd. And his behind-the-scenes work would evidently be rather unknown by a President Sarah Palin.

If she's going to be elected, and if she might be President, and he will be working in government without the knowledge of the sitting President, we, the public, have a right to know about this guy we wouldn't be electing but would be running the nation. Which brings us to a rather urgent question. Who is Todd Palin? And when do we start vetting him?

Let's put a stop to the Republican insults.

There's been a lot of talk the last couple days, especially on the residence of satan, Fox News. Obama talked about McCain, and then used a common phrase that McCain has used in the past, stating that, "If you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig."

Now, the context is very clear that Obama was not referring to Palin- unlike the eight times that McCain used that phrase in reference to Hillary Clinton. But evidently Fox News believes so adamantly that we all spend our time listening to McCain-Palin, that they can't believe someone could use a tangentially similar phrase that wasn't similar to something Palin said.

She did say in her speech that the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is lipstick. And since Obama was referring to McCain's policies when he used the line, it is perhaps a rather clever riff of the line that Palin gave at the Republican Convention. (Let us leave off to what extent comparing your gender to dogs is truly embracing of feminism.)

But here's the part that I most strenuously object to, and am indeed insulted by. The Republican machine and Fox News have evidently no problem with Palin being compared to an animal, or a dog- she did it herself on the convention floor. What they have a problem with is her allegedly being compared to a pig. And though Obama did nothing of the sort- where do they get off attacking pigs that way?!? Pigs are incredibly clean animals, poddy-trained from birth, and seeking to continuously be in water to keep heat off and stay clean, regardless of how farmers treat them. They have some of the finest curves in the animal kingdom. They are probably the third most intelligent animals, after primates and whales, and certainly far smarter than dogs. Had Obama compared Palin to a pig, it would have been an upgrade from her own comparison of herself to a dog. He of course did not, and so we are left with the Republicans attacking pigs. To call them anything of the sort would be an insult not to them, but to the wondrous pig.

Alaska is Small

Of course it's a big state. But when we talk about leadership experience, about executive experience, we are talking about people, not land. How do you lead people? How do you manage competing interests of the population? Certainly, a small-town mayor has to deal with competing interests, but we generally believe that you need to know how to manage something bigger than a small town- like a state.

But Alaska, let us remember, is about 680,000 people. Riordan, mayor of Los Angeles, city of over 3,800,000, would have been a better pick- a city more than four times larger than Alaska. Certainly, George II won with Cheney, from a state with fewer people than Alaska. But let us remember that not only did Cheney have ample experience leading on the national level, but also that he was not being touted as bringing executive experience to the ticket, as George II had already been governor of Texas.

Truly, people vote the top of the ticket, not the bottom. But the argument that she brings executive experience is baseless. We now have a candidate who has more international experience than any other Presidential candidate in history. Obama has grown up overseas and in the multiethnic state of Hawaii. He is the son of Kenyans. He uniquely understands the needs of the rest of the world, and we have seen that he can uniquely restore America's positive perception in the world. It's about international Hawaii, and not Alaska. Obama: the voice of leadership and experience.