From another board re: Palin...

[misanthrope]

...From a conservative Alaska woman who is an associate of the poster:

I thought you all might find this interesting. This is from a woman I know who lives in Alaska, whose family owns an oil business, who has always leaned strongly conservative, and who was planning to vote for McCain until he selected Sarah Palin for VP. Asked why she so strongly opposed his choice for VP, she responded:

My big issue with Sarah Palin, is that she's not "Presidential". Think of this scenario. I'm a pretty smart chickI held a management position within a large bank, and did a great deal of social and moral and ethcial thinking during my years in banking. I made hard decisions about what was right and what was wrong. I'm no idiot.

But am I qualified to run the COUNTRY!???? Ms. Palin was on the school board of a disfunctional community (Wasilla isn't an area we advertise to tourists for a reason). She then advanced to the city council of the same disfuncational town (economic upturn they ain't) (I hate the word ain't but I thought it fit here). Then she advanced to Mayor...still disfunctional (try to eat a decent meal in the town...waffles or taco's or nothing) and all reasonable people who live there work here in Anchorage. Umm where was I? Ok they she was Mayor...no biggie, then the soccer mom was lucky. We had this total idiot for Governor (Frank Mercowski) who used his office to fund his lifestyle (personal jet etc). So she beat him out and won the governorship. We've been regretting that for two years.

She's actually allienatied the oil and gas market (you all think she's in bed with them...she is not even allowed to change their sheets). She has significant personal charges of missuse of power to face (big stuff, and well documented here and under legislative investigation) and well, when all is said and done, she's a soccer mom, who, despite our close ties to Russia, hasn't squat in international dealings...and we think that she's a great choice to be the heartbeat (of a weak heart) away from the presidency.

Gad was my position clear here? She's no more, and maybe even less qualified than me to lead the country...and I'm not remotely saying that I'm qualified to lead the country (I could design the country a heck of a kitchen, but make life and death decisions...I think not!).

She's a nice gal. She's become a bit headstrong since her governorship (using the position and abusing it do bring down her ex brother in law to assist her sister in her divorce hearings). She's no Hillary Clinton (who despite any politics, can't be called an idiot) and to think that we as women will vote for her because she's a woman...well that's an insult to thinking women of America.

I'm ranting...so I'll answer more tomorrow. Let me be clear, she HAD high approval ratings. Then she and her staff began running amock...and we're all thrilled to see her in the VP seat...because it means we lose her as Governer and can get a smart human being to fill the seat. As a VP....she's frightening. A heart beat away from the Presidency to a very old man...Horribly frightening.

And as the mother of a special needs child...let me offend all who think that women and men can have it all...she had a son this year, (she's 44 and I'm 45) who has down's syndrome. My son is seriously ill as well (he's 2) and I had to leave my job, a job I was very attached to, and known nationally within my community for my skill level, so that I could provide care to my son. A person, male or female, with a small child with serious mental and physical health issues, is not going to provide quality leadership, to the country or to their family.

[Vincardog]

1. When are we going to hear this interview on the Convict Nets Netwerk?

[Desertrose]

2. Interesting perspective...thanks.

Scary, too....

I can't understand a mother even considering such a huge job after giving birth so recently to a normal child,let alone a special needs child.

(But wait- she doesn't KNOW just exactly what the VP does, does she??)

[misanthrope]

3. You mean the child...

...about whose fate she was so cavalier that she wouldn't cut a political junket short when a possible health risk (water broke early) emerged?

It doesn't matter who birthed that baby, the bottom line is she admits putting that kid at risk to further her own ambitions.

[MadMaddie]

4. Agreed! As somone said earlier for every 1 vote they may

get from this, they have lost several just as the women in the article.

I hope this woman and others in Alaska start speaking loudly and start actively joining the Republican groups that are supporting Obama/Biden!!

[central scrutinizer]

5. suspicious

If the author is so nationally known for her skill level, shouldn't she have a better command of English - there are so many spelling and other errors in this that it makes me question the authenticity.

[BlooInBloo]

6. Not really - Americans are stupid. The "smart" ones are the equivalent of C students.

EDIT: Typo.

[misanthrope]

7. She's not a writer, she's a financial person...

...and it is obviously from a personal correspondence. A lot of folks type e-mail off the cuff with little regard to vagaries.

I just posted it because I found it bolstering.

[roguevalley]

9. its good and I'm not surprised. what she said. Ben Stevens, Ted's

son, called someone valley trash and got decapitated for it. It was part of his leaving office. The valley, Wasilla in particular, ate him alive.

[seabeyond]

13. yes not writing and english paper. typing as she speaks (hence) (all the parenthesis)

really are just switches in conversation if she were talking

[LibGranny]

10. Most executives are not paid to "edit"

but they're paid to "think" and have their staff do the editing. Someone typing at home for the nets probably doesn't feel they have to be letter perfect. Give her a break!

[tblue37]

11. Dupe--self delete.

My computer froze and then posted this reply twice. Sorry.

[tblue37]

12. I teach college English and have done so since 1972.

Papers written during these last 15 years or so by graduate students working on doctoral degrees upset me because they make mistakes of the sort that I would give a college freshman a C- for.* I also see similar errors in written work by younger professors of English. Why not? A few years ago they were the graduate students whose papers were so full of errors.

If graduate students in English and college English professors can make such errors, why assume that a businesswoman, even a well-respected one, wouldn't be capable of making errors?

*For those of you who want to freak out that I ended a sentence with a preposition up there, be advised that it is perfectly acceptable to do that, because those just look like prepositions. In reality they are the adverbial particles of phasal verbs. For explanation and documentation, visit the two articles on this subject posted on my Grammar and Usage for the Non-Expert website:
http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/prepositions1.html
http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/prepositions2.html

[seabeyond]

14. bah hahahaha. that is funny. you know, life is just too short for all those rules

obviously i let them go a while ago. but i got a kick out of your post.

[tblue37]

15. Well, I was just responding to the poster who assumed the woman couldn't be

a nationally known, well-respected businesswoman if she had errors in her email. My point was that she certainly could be--and the way things go now, she could even be a college English professor and still have such errors in her writing.

But since I was posting about grammar and usage, I figured some silly person would be after me for having a preposition at the end of a sentence, because although that isn't even a real rule, a lot of people who don't really know that much about grammar think it is an important rule, and they would undoubtedly jump up and down at having "caught" me making what they suppose to be an error--just as that one poster was certain that the email couldn't be from a nationally known, well-respected businesswoman because he spotted errors in her writing.

[seabeyond]

16. yup......

lol lol. i gotcha. i personally dont care about that little ole preposition so good to know i am not silly. well at least on prepositions. lol

i remember the day, back in college 101 and all i learned. i loved seeing how perfectly i could spell and write proper sentences. the challenge was to get no red or green squiggley lines.

and then

i said fuck it. and embraced messy. lol

yes it is not indicative of intelligence per say and the person in such a crammed and narrow box just might mess something interesting.

[Fumesucker]

20. LOL, but spelling "per se", "per say" is...

Just messin' wit' ya'.

[seabeyond]

21. why wouldnt it be and why have i always spelled it per se. you are right. that is weird

[D23MIURG23]

22. On the contrary, her communication skills are fairly well honed.

Her points were clearly articulated, she just didn't bother with the spelling and grammer check.

[Eric J in MN]

8. kick

kick

[eshfemme]

17. These personal testimonials coming from AL need to be compiled

because since McCain didn't do his fucking HW, we need to make sure that at least America and the MSM does its homework. Blog the shit out of it. Create chain emails. People need to know this stuff.

[stevedeshazer]

18. Don't fall for this

This reeks of Republican.

No sourcing.

This is a diversion.

[krkaufman]

19. Good post, except where they state they're happy to see her win the VP slot ...

... as McCain/Palin winning would unburden Alaska of a useless governor. Seems a trifle selfish and short-sighted.