I can't stand it. I really truly, can't stand it.
It's one thing to disagree on policy. It's a different thing entirely to just completely make up facts and claim them as truths.
I have, in an effort for equality and open-mindedness, sat here and listened to the speeches of the RNC convention. Tonight, Sarah Palin gave her keynote address.
I believe my ears are now bleeding.
Not only was her speech filled with just pure nastiness and ugly speech (honestly, you are going to mock the service of a person who before serving as a state AND national senator, served as a community organizer and civil rights activist? Civil rights activism and community outreach is something to mock? Really?)
She mocked people with "Ivy League" educations and she mocked people in the news media, saying "Here's a little newsflash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country."
Newsflash: people in hollywood, as well as liberals, "elitists" and those cranky news media types, (the same ones who went after John Edwards and Bill Clinton, yeah those ones...) They are all Americans, too. You may not like them, or relate to them, but they are just as much a part of this country as you.
And just a quick reminder, before she was the mayor of Wasilla and the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin was herself, a member of that horrible news media. She has a journalism degree and was a reporter in Anchorage.
After she slammed all those horrible lefties with their fancy educations and their hollywood friends, she moved on to the main portion of the speech, which sadly, was mostly fiction.
She took credit for things she had nothing to do with, like when she said, "When oil and gas prices went up so dramatically and the state revenues followed with that increase, I sent a large share of that revenue directly back to the people of Alaska."
Yeah, that's the Alaska Permanent Fund, which has been in effect since 1976.
When it came to spending and earmarks, she said, ``I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending,'' she said. ``We suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.''
The problem is, under Governor Palin, Alaskan earmarks for spending are higher than any other state, something, ironically, that Senator McCain opposes vehemently.
And then there's that small issue of her being the head of the "Ted Stevens Excellent in Public Service, Inc." which was a 527 that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors...another something Senator McCain has opposed.
(Alaskan Senator Stevens, by the way, is currently being indicted for financial corruption.)
She talked about opposing the "bridge to nowhere," although her opposition only began last month, before that, she was all for it.
She said Obama will raise every tax of every single American, which is of course, not at all true. Not even close to true. He will raise taxes of the top 1% of Americans, those making over $250,000/year, and he will raise their taxes by a percentage based on their income. He will then close loop holes so that people like Warren Buffet will actually have to pay his share, unlike now, when he pays a lower tax percentage than I do. As for small business owners, he will give incentives and breaks based on their income level etc. He will also give tax breaks to companies who keep all their employees in the U.S. and stop incentives for companies who outsource- that's how he's going to pay for those crazy things like providing basic services to all American citizens.
She said Obama opposes drilling for oil (actually, he said he would consider limited off-shore drilling,) and then she proceeded to lay out a plan for energy independence, which if you were reading the transcript, looked like a direct carbon copy of Obama's plan from last week's speech. He is for funding green color jobs and using Americans to power American energy independence by using American technology and harnessing American resources like wind, solar and natural gas...she said the same thing.
Oh and by the way, there is no such thing as clean coal. It's the same old coal, they just got new PR people and gave it a new name.
She then attacked Obama's record, saying "Listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform -- not even in the [Illinois] state Senate. ..."
Mrs. Palin, I urge you to do some basic research, it's easy you can go the the US Senate.org:
Obama's record:
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, 2005-present
• Collaborated with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in 2006 to pass a law (PL 109-282) creating a Google-like database of federal contracts and grants allowing users to type in key words that would bring up exactly how much money any particular recipient received.
• With then-Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., won enactment of a 2006 law (PL 109-401) that allowed the United States to export nuclear fuel, technology and reactors to India for the first time in three decades. The law accepted India as a nuclear-armed power and was enacted despite concerns about India’s ties to Iran and past sanctions for transferring sensitive equipment to Iran.
• Chief sponsor of legislation signed into law in 2006 (PL 109-456) that authorized a 25 percent increase in U.S. assistance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been ravaged by civil wars since its independence from Belgium in 1960 and which received $33-million in fiscal 2006. The law called for a special envoy to help mediate an end to the conflict there and urged the Bush administration to strengthen the United Nations peacekeeping force now operating in parts of the nation.
• Co-sponsored legislation by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., signed into law in 2007 (PL 110-175) that speeds the release of documents under the Freedom of Information Act by revising requirements for federal agency disclosures of requested information.
• Played a significant role in the 2007 overhaul of congressional lobbying and ethics rules. Sided with Republicans who wanted stronger rules for the disclosure of earmarks in spending bills and tried to set an example by releasing a lengthy list of requests he asked to be included in annual appropriations bills. His support is believed to have persuaded some other Democrats (there were nine total) to adopt the amendment.
• With Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., proposed requiring senators to make full reimbursement for the market rate of corporate jet flights. Under old rules, senators reimbursed for the first-class commercial rate of the flight. In some cases, that meant paying $2,000 for a private jet flight that actually may have cost upwards of $20,000 per seat. The proposal was incorporated into a broader package of reforms.
Number of bills sponsored: 272
Number of bills co-sponsored: 834
Number of bills sponsored or co-sponsored that became law: 16
So either she didn't know, or she was just lying. I'm not sure which is worse.
The thing that really makes me crazy is this, people will listen to the speeches, and they will believe it. They won't do the research, even though it takes five minutes.
Of course the speech concluded with a bunch of fear mongering and threats of imminent attack...that to not vote for John McCain was to vote for defeat. 911 was referenced oh, about 10 or 15 times. Whatever.
I really am trying to be open-minded, but after tonight, and what reminded me of high school shenanigans, I don't know if I can handle much more of this.
