Hitchens surprisingly misunderstands Palin's conservative appeal

[Darkness]

How does this have any bearing her political philosophy?

If she was in a position of authority, such as the Presidency, she would probably sign a Same-sex marriage ban.

I know; it didn't work out for Reagan either, right? Putin just said that he thinks there is no reason for sanctions on Iran and that there is no evidence Iran is building nukes. That she would try to apply pressure on Russia to change their position is hardly controversial.

Comparing the old Soviet Union to the Russian Federation is a fatal flaw. It is why international relations are in chaos, now. The Western world keeps pushing Russia away, while Russia originally wanted to integrate with the West. By the way, Prime Minister Putin may not favour sanctions, but the President is more willing to employ sanctions on Iran.

Yeah, that's the ticket; more Federal Reserve misallocating trillions of dollars with artificial interest rate cuts and Fannie and Freddie lending to people who can't pay back the loans. If you think that is the free market in action then you are clueless.

I said Government regulation. What the Obama and Bush administrations have done is give trillions of dollars to private corporations, without much control.

I know; she probably believes the 9/11 hijackers were evil people. Shocking.

Listening to too much conservative radio? I do not know of a single democrat in Congress or in the White House who believes the 9/11 hijackers are good people or even decent people. Conservative pundits love tricking the public by making believe that Liberal's idealism is the same as refusal to see good and evil.

This has what to do with her political ideology?

If you will agree that President Obama going to Reverend Wright's church is a non-issue, then I will let this issue go.

No wonder you believe conservatism is wretched, you don't even know what it is.

I went overboard, perhaps. Conservatives do not believe that Neoliberalist economic policies will lead to a concentration of wealth with the rich and a destruction of the middle-class. I do not doubt your good intentions. The one thing I cannot understand is how conservatives believe a right to money (i.e. the right for the rich to refuse to give up a small percentage of their wealth) supersedes the right of a family to put food on their table or have access to health care.

 

[Alceste]

God - please let Palin run for the GOP in 2012. Please please please. * crosses fingers and wishes very hard *.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

Do you really want to even take the chance?

 

[Alceste]

Do you really want to even take the chance?

Yes! Remember, the two parties are competing for the wafflers in the middle, not the irreconcilable wingnuts on either end of the political spectrum. To be "in the middle" in the US, you need to have AT LEAST enough brains to realize the GOP has a few flaws (understatement of the year) as it is. If the secretive entities that decide the fate of the GOP and their lackeys (including Palin) decide to shove the party even further toward the lunatic fringe of the right by putting up a corrupt, ignorant, ridiculous, embarassing, fiscally irresponsible fundamentalist for President just to woo folks like Joe (who, frankly, does not need wooing - he would vote Republican even if they put up a mentally deranged gorilla for president), they will lose the battle for the middle.

They are banking on being able to fabricate a "grassroots movement" to regain power by the sheer force of bandwagon thinking. They assume Americans will all believe and follow whoever controls the message, whatever the message happens to be. I don't believe they are correct in this assumption. Maybe it worled in 1933 when information was hard to come by, but not now.

 

[Magic Man]

(who, frankly, does not need wooing - he would vote Republican even if they put up a mentally deranged gorilla for president)

Is that why you're advocating they put up a mentally deranged gorilla for president?

they will lose the battle for the middle.

I hope, and want to believe you're right. It's just a big risk. If they do win, all is lost.

They are banking on being able to fabricate a "grassroots movement" to regain power by the sheer force of bandwagon thinking. They assume Americans will all believe and follow whoever controls the message, whatever the message happens to be. I don't believe they are correct in this assumption. Maybe it worled in 1933 when information was hard to come by, but not now.

That's the thing. Their big thing is appealing to the "working class". You know, they're all just good ole boys and girls who grew up in small towns and want to help small town people. "That's what America's made of." The American people in general are gullible enough to be taken in by catch phrases and stupid talking points. Many moderates lean towards a lot of their ideas simply because they've done such a good job over the decades of demonizing the liberals and instilling this fear of losing your rights and losing your country. Normal, average people buy into this stuff. They might not buy into everything the GOP is selling, but they buy in enough that when that's put up against an "evil liberal" who wants to "take away the freedom of religion" and "tax the working man even more" and all that nonsense, it's very possible the moderates will go with that lesser evil.

I sure hope you're right, though.