So let's compare. Sarah Palin has a 17 year old daughter who is pregnant. Does this mean that Sarah Palin is a hypocrite for championing family values? Does this make her a bad parent? Here is what Palin has to say about the matter: "We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart...Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of love and adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional support."
This to me is the true humble and Christian response. No one is perfect. And there are consequences for actions which people have to live with. Even so, parents can admire the young girl's decision not to take the easy way out and have an abortion. They love their daughter unconditionally, and accept the grandchild unreservedly. I predict that this will strengthen Palin's support both with evangelical Christians and with the American people.
Now let's contrast Palin's behavior with that of Barack Obama. Here is Obama, from his speech at the Democratic National Convention. "It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it." Obama faulted McCain for his cruel and insensitive philosophy, which he defined this way: "Out of work? Tough luck. No health care. The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your boot straps, even if you don't have boots. You're on your own."
Obama rejected the bootstraps philosophy in favor of a Christian alternative. In his interview with pastor Rick Warren, Obama said his favorite passage in the Bible is the one where Jesus says: whatever you do to the least of my brethren, that you do unto me. Obama has actually used biblical language to make the point that we are our brothers' keeper. Obama insisted that these are the ideals that have guided his life and the ones that he would bring to the Oval Office.
Now how can Obama's self-description be reconciled with news reports that Obama's younger half-brother lives in a hut in a shanty town on the outskirts of Nairobi? Vanity Fair caught up with twenty six year old George Hussein Onyango Obama, and what he had to say is as shocking as it is pathetic. "No one knows who I am. I live here on less than a dollar a month." George's shack measures 6 feet by 10 feet, and yet he says that Barack Obama has done nothing to reach out to him or to help him. "I live like a recluse. If anyone says something about my surname, I say we are not related. I am ashamed." The two Obamas only met twice, once when George was five and then again in 2006 when Senator Obama visited Nairobi. "It was very brief," George says. "We spoke for just a few minutes. It was like meeting a complete stranger."
So far what has Obama said about his half-brother? Absolutely nothing. Yet the Obama campaign has not denied the story. And Obama's supporters, attempting to cover up for their man, have basically said that young George Obama is trying to benefit from Barack Obama's success. Their argument is that Obama owes his sibling nothing. So the Obama camp has a message for George: "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, even if you don't have boots. You're on your own." Obama's accusation against McCain turns out to be an accurate description of his own practical philosophy.
Could there be a more striking contrast between Palin's loving approach to her family and Obama's stern rejection of his own half-brother? The media seems to be implying that Palin is hypocritical because she stands for "family values" while her daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. But parents don't have full control over their teenagers' actions. Moreover, isn't Obama an even bigger hypocrite for championing aid to the down-and-out while his own sibling lives in an African hut on pennies a day? By the way the Obamas made several million dollars last year! They are certainly in a position to relieve George's condition if they cared enough.
The major newspapers and networks know about George, and they seem to recognize how damaging this story is for their favorite presidential candidate. So they are not reporting it, even though it is one of the most revealing stories about the candidate's character. And thus, with the GOP convention under way, we have the ridiculous spectacle of Obama getting credit for talking about compassion while Palin gets criticized for practicing it.
A slightly different version of this article appears in the online edition of National Review.
Reader Comments ( Page 45 of 46)
661. Dee/Michael:
Concerning that story, it's horrifying, no doubt about it. I don't know if I'd be able to cope being in a situation like that. Even being against the death penalty, I still cannot guarantee that under any circumstances I would still remain that way, especially if those circumstances affected me personally. Just being honest there. It still doesn't change the fact that like I said, the government is setting a bad example by killing people for killing other people. That certainly doesn't mean that I'd be particularly sorry if that guy mysteriously turns up dead in prison. Seeing what you said about him smirking at the trial makes my blood boil too..some people..ugh.
Zatheus at 7:55AM on Sep 7th 2008
662. Zatheus I know exactly what you mean. This is why I really don't have a position on the death penalty.
Prisoners do not like baby molesters/killers and rapists. He might not make it one week there..but then again he will probably be in protective custody.
Dee at 11:53AM on Sep 7th 2008
663. obama's is a resolute hypocrite, the premise of helping those with a greater need than ours applies to everyone else but obama. He is a farce, while telling the media that he objects to character assination, his surrogates are hard at work attempting to viciously destroy Governor Palin. This man will do whatever it takes to win this election. But, the majority of Americans are decent people that will not tolerate this despicable conduct. The world is watching and they must be shaking their heads as to how low some of these blind sheep are willing to go.
wanda at 8:55PM on Sep 7th 2008
664. Once upon a time, there was a king. The people oooed and ahhhed when he spoke. Words of honey and promise flowed from his mouth.
This King - learned from the corrupt Emil Jones, how to vote "present" over 130 times in the State Legislature so as not to be criticized for a controversial voting record. Corrupt Emil also showed him how to "billjack" 100 of legislative bills (again for the public good - and not controversial - like housing bills for the poor - that put 14 million dollars in Reskos pocket - but, seemingly, promised the poor a better life). Shortly after the Kings crowning, his wife was given nearly a $200,000 raise in salary at her Chicago Hospital job , "How wonderful" said the King and then signed a proposal for Federal Grants to the same hospital for one million dollars. Now this same king could have stood up for fairness and honesty. Instead the King found other corrupt politicians, Daley, Stoger and his son, Kilpatrick the king of Detroit, and others to his liking. Instead of denouncing the evil ones .... He proudly ENDORSED each and every one.
Soon, his housing for the poor was condemned and boarded up. Resko was indicted for fraud and his housing empire crumbled- his housing declared unlivable and substandard. 14 mil gone-where?
Now, far away their lived a Princess. She lived in a corrupt land where the Governors pork barreled and fed off the hard working people. She stood up and denounced the evil doers. She ran against the evil Govenor and won. She sold his ill gotten largess on e-bay and fired the chef. She gave back the profits of the oil companies to the people. So all lived well and happily ever after.
Meanwhile, back at the King's palace a small boy was reading about this wonderful princess from far away.The boy wondered why - when the Princess' Benefactors, John and Cindy, spent millions of dollars and YEARS of their time providing emergency medical aid to the poor and needy all over the world, the King's only charitable act was a $22,500 donation to the Rev. Wright's, very wrong church.
As the mighty King strutted and strolled, the little boy proclaimed loudly "The Emperor has No Clothes" ! Little by little, the young lad retold the story about the courageous Princess. The lad told all and sundry about her honor, integrity, and sense of justice. The evil press did everything to squelch this heresay.They made up vicious stories and denounced her to the skies! But as the story grew, so then did the truth. Soon, everyone knew - what we will all soon know - "The Emperor has No Clothes"
Kathy at 12:13AM on Sep 8th 2008
665. (Hey Dinesh - didn't the Repubs rip Michelle Obama for being an "angry, black woman? Where's outrage over Todd Palin who "HATES AMERICA?")
http://thedailyvoice.com/voice/2008/09/why-does-todd-palin-hate-ameri-001107.php
Why Does Todd Palin Hate America?
Kola Boof | Posted September 3, 2008 12:55 AM
... the Alaskan Independent Party--a party that promotes "secession" from the United States as one of its most virally public, if not written, agendas--lists Palin's husband, Todd, as not only a two-time member of said Anti-American political party, but also as a currently "Non-Committed" voter.
(If your wife is a sitting Republican Governor, then why not at least register a party affiliation?)
... For those of you who don't know what AIP stands for; let me reprint this mission statement of the party's founder, Joe Volger:
"I'm an Alaskan, not an American...I've got no use for America or her damned institutions. The fires of hell are glaciers compared to my hate for America and her government."
So tell me--why isn't the nation in an uproar about the fact that Todd Palin hates America and that his supposedly Oval Office-caliber wife chose him as a husband in the first place? More importantly--why isn't John McCain in an uproar about this blatantly unpatriotic ice fisherman ...?
Bart at 8:36AM on Sep 8th 2008
666. (Hey Dinesh - didn't the Repubs rip Michelle Obama for being an "angry, black woman? Where's outrage over Todd Palin who "HATES AMERICA?")
http://thedailyvoice.com/voice/2008/09/why-does-todd-palin-hate-ameri-001107.php
Why Does Todd Palin Hate America?
Kola Boof | Posted September 3, 2008 12:55 AM
... the Alaskan Independent Party--a party that promotes "secession" from the United States as one of its most virally public, if not written, agendas--lists Palin's husband, Todd, as not only a two-time member of said Anti-American political party, but also as a currently "Non-Committed" voter.
(If your wife is a sitting Republican Governor, then why not at least register a party affiliation?)
... For those of you who don't know what AIP stands for; let me reprint this mission statement of the party's founder, Joe Volger:
"I'm an Alaskan, not an American...I've got no use for America or her damned institutions. The fires of hell are glaciers compared to my hate for America and her government."
So tell me--why isn't the nation in an uproar about the fact that Todd Palin hates America and that his supposedly Oval Office-caliber wife chose him as a husband in the first place? More importantly--why isn't John McCain in an uproar about this blatantly unpatriotic ice fisherman ...?
Bart at 8:22AM on Sep 8th 2008
667. So tell me--why isn't the nation in an uproar about the fact that Todd Palin hates America and that his supposedly Oval Office-caliber wife chose him as a husband in the first place?
Bart at 8:36AM on Sep 8th 2008
Bartholomew, pray tell, how many campaign speeches has Todd Palin given or will give ? How many small towns with all those "bitter people" is Todd Palin going to campaign in ? If one injects him or herself into the campaign and actually goes on the stump to make speeches then he or she is subject to such scrutiny.
M2D5 at 11:13AM on Sep 8th 2008
668. "Bartholomew, pray tell, how many campaign speeches has Todd Palin given or will give ? How many small towns with all those "bitter people" is Todd Palin going to campaign in ? If one injects him or herself into the campaign and actually goes on the stump to make speeches then he or she is subject to such scrutiny."
How many campaign speeches has Michelle Obama given? Zero. Last time I checked, she isn't the one campaigning, her husband is. And I strongly suspect that Sarah Palin will keep her America-hating husband as far away from the campaign as she possibly can, I can only imagine why...
And sorry, but Todd Palin's words are out there for everyone to see. That's just as real as anything 'bad' that Michelle Obama ever said. I don't recall her saying that she hates the USA so much that she wants her state to secede from it. If she had, you know damned well that it would have been over for Obama, even if he hadn't said it. She said she's actually proud for a change, and she gets demonized for it, figures. Assholes.
For the record, almost everyone in this country has probably felt the same way as Michelle Obama has at one point or another in their lives. I know I have, and our country (especially for the last 8 years) has done a lot of things that I'm not proud of at all. I imagine conservatives will whine endlessly about how crappy America is if Obama wins the election, but that's 'totally different'.
Your reasoning in this case sucks M2D5.
Zatheus at 12:54PM on Sep 8th 2008
669. How many campaign speeches has Michelle Obama given? Zero. Last time I checked, she isn't the one campaigning, her husband is.
Zatheus at 12:54PM on Sep 8th 2008
Oh, poor Zatheus, see what happens when one only surfs the WEB. You have led a rather sheltered existence. Michelle Obama has be seen many times on CNN & C-SPAN giving campaign speeches on his behalf. I have , on a number of occasions watched her speak on C-SPAN. She is quite articulate especially when she emphaized his abilities in within the southern Illinois politics, he was not some naive fool, but a really seasoned player. I know, I know, it's not the WEB but on things like C-SPAN one can actually watch live, unedited news events as the happen. Without the sound bytes or the condensing of what some one says or what a later commentator claims the individual said.
Funny how you say that she made no speeches and then turn around and attempt to defend what she has been quoted as saying. Or did the primary campaign against that "other woman" not count ?
As far a secession goes, there have been a number of states wherein some residents have openly espoused such. The are small in number and of little consequence except to be used for political fodder.
As far as raisng a point, if you wish to go down the road whereby anyone who disagrees with your you views are considered to be "a-holes" you can join the farmer at the bottom of the hill and be casually ignored if not taken seriously.
M2D5 at 1:46PM on Sep 8th 2008
670. "Oh, poor Zatheus, see what happens when one only surfs the WEB. You have led a rather sheltered existence. Michelle Obama has be seen many times on CNN & C-SPAN giving campaign speeches on his behalf."
You know absolutely nothing about me, sorry. I try to keep up as much as I can politically, on television, newspapers, and the web. Of course, all of those are 'liberal sources', so I'm just horribly biased and mean. Boohoo. And your little response rant changes nothing. She's still the one giving the speech, not Barack. And if you want to say that she's the same as Barack because they're husband and wife, then I submit that Sarah and Todd are the same, so Todd represents Sarah's views as well. Besides, once again, she got demonized for actually admitting that she was proud for a change. That's just pathetic no matter how you look at it. It should have been encouraged, not used as an attacking point against her & Barack.
Once again, she'll keep her little hubby locked up so that he doesn't politically embarass her. I suppose you view that as being perfectly reasonable.
"Funny how you say that she made no speeches and then turn around and attempt to defend what she has been quoted as saying. Or did the primary campaign against that "other woman" not count?"
It's still irrelevant. She's not the one campaigning. You can't blame Michelle and give Todd a free pass, it's simple. Should it really matter AT ALL if his speech was made on national news or not? Obama has been given crap for stuff his pastor said over TWENTY YEARS. Once again, that's ok though, because it's Obama, and not Mr. War Hero.
"As far a secession goes, there have been a number of states wherein some residents have openly espoused such. The are small in number and of little consequence except to be used for political fodder."
And my point, if a Democrat (such as Michelle Obama) said that she hated America, and wanted her state OUT of it, I'm sure you'd paint her as being the devil incarnate, and a traitor. But since someone of your political leanings is the one that is married to someone like that, it magically becomes "just silly words, just ignore it!". That makes you a hypocrite, period. You cannot set standards for one person, and apply a completely different set of standards to another, and call it fair and impartial.
"As far as raisng a point, if you wish to go down the road whereby anyone who disagrees with your you views are considered to be "a-holes" you can join the farmer at the bottom of the hill and be casually ignored if not taken seriously."
Funny, I've yet to see you say a SINGLE WORD in opposition to Robert Okane's rants (or anyone else with a Republican/conservative affiliation), I'm as polite as can be by comparison. I guess that once again makes you a hypocrite. But that's ok, because he's on 'your side'. I'm not telling anyone that they have to conform to my viewpoint, but assholes (like you're showing yourself to be) that bitch and moan about the 'big meanies' in the liberal media attacking only McCain and his pet, and then turning around doing the EXACT SAME THING should be exposed as the hypocrites that you are.
And for the record, my dislike of Sarah Palin from just what we've seen of her already goes deeper than any dislike I've EVER had for John McCain. He's more of a moderate in my opinion, she's a fundamentalist. We don't need someone like that in office, no matter where they are on the political spectrum. I could give a rat's ass if she's "perky" and has "pep in her step", she's got a controlling agenda, and that's reason enough to dislike her. Besides, she should be a good little mommy and stay home with her kids if she's so into the "family values" thing. Conservatives hate feminist women that put their careers before their families, allegedly (unless they're conservative, then it's ok!!). Especially since she opted to keep one that's going to need a lifetime of full-time care.
I'd imagine when people finally get a chance to really ask her some tough questions, if she's an even remotely honest person, she'll scare the shit out of most people. There's a reason the Huckster didn't get very far. And he was a super likeable guy by most people's standards. Hell, I even liked him for the most part, but I wanted him as far away from the presidency as he could possibly be.
Zatheus at 2:56PM on Sep 8th 2008
671. *edit*
Once again, Sarah Palin will keep her little hubby locked up so that he doesn't politically embarass her (by being honest). I suppose you view that as being perfectly reasonable.
Zatheus at 2:57PM on Sep 8th 2008
672. And I'd challenge you to find something on any one of these blogs that has me saying much of anything negative about McCain. I probably wouldn't vote for him anyway, pre-Sarah or otherwise, because his political ideals just aren't anywhere near my own (or his own half the time), but at least I don't run around calling him friggin names like that moron Robert Okane does. Hussein this, Hussein that, about Obama. The 'evil Muslim'. It's pathetic, and juvenile, and thus far, the only people that have bothered to point it out, are SURPRISE, Democrats.
Zatheus at 3:08PM on Sep 8th 2008
673. KEEP AMERICA SAFE ~ ~ VOTE MCCAIN/PALIN IN 2008
Ann at 7:05PM on Sep 6th 2008
xx
Since you like quotes, I saw john mccain saying with pride, 'I have voted with George Bush 90% of the time'.
We've all seen it. He's a 'maverick' 10% of the time?
What that tells you is if you throw your vote away, you have a 90% chance that the next four years will be just like or worse than the last eight.
Remember, they say issues are not important, personalities are. They want to run on their celebrity.
Yes, celebrity. Evidently it's satanic when democrats become famous but ordained by god if neocons run only on celebrity and nothing else.
Mccain wants more war, he says so, endless iraqi occupation, he says so, he thinks billions are ok for Iraq but you don't deserve minimum wage, that's his voting record, he wants more bush tax breaks for billionaires, tax breaks for big oil, he says so, nothing done on education, more foreclosures, more outsourcing, more free trade with bankrupt nations that don't export but provide child labor at less than $1.00 per hour and everything that all republicans stand for.
If you vote for mcsame, you vote for the 169 corporate lobbyists who direct his campaign and expect to control the government.
Obama has no lobbyists in his campaign. Zero.
He realizes as any sane person does that neocon supply side economics is no different from harvest shows on the preacher channels. He plans to enforce standing laws that regulate how business grow and trade to ensure the best interests of the nation and her citizens are served by the businesses our constitution enable. This is nothing new.
These laws directed our growth to national prominence, and failure to enforce them has caused us to slip to where we are now.
Republicans believe in that because their richest have grown hundreds of times richer and you've been doing whatever you've been doing under neocon republicanism and mccain/bush.
Hope you liked it. If you want more, vote neocon and you'll sure as hell get it!
Clif Kuplen at 3:36PM on Sep 8th 2008
674. "How many small towns with all those "bitter people" is Todd Palin going to campaign in ? If one injects him or herself into the campaign and actually goes on the stump to make speeches then he or she is subject to such scrutiny."
M2D5,
A lot of small town people are bitter, and because of this they cling to their guns and religion. What else do they have?
Botts at 3:46PM on Sep 8th 2008
675. You are the kneecapper, Kuplin. That's what you have threatened in previous posts. You, Kuplin. You.
Can't think without embibing?
meanweenie at 7:19PM on Sep 4th 2008
xxx
can't spell yet?
Imbibing.
Incidentally, drinking a glass of water is also imbibing. I'd assume you're just as confused about word definitions as everything else. Who feeds and dresses you?
Bottom line: Mccain=Bush. Anything else posted here is crap.
We can talk about mccain=bush or you can continue anklebiting and I'll give you the same treatment I gave night club drunks for decades.
If you want respect, learn some facts and try to engage with them. Otherwise, do whatever a spider pig does. I'm not going to be any different tomorrow from you anklebiting too. All you do is show me what kind of person neocons are conning. If you're any expample, that would be really really dumb ones with major frustration issues.
Clif Kuplen at 4:10PM on Sep 8th 2008