Sedente Animo

Fatimah Ali Loses Sight of the Big Picture

Despite the fact that an African-American stands a 50/50 chance of becoming president of the United States,  Fatimah Ali of the Daily News sees "a growing wave of intolerance sweeping the nation."

ABC, Lets See the Full Interview

Kristin Powers on the Sarah Palin interview by ABC's Charlie Gibson:

Her responses to Gibson's cross-examining seemed canned and rehearsed, a little like the answers you might give in a tough college interview. But that may be a result of the ham-fisted editing - which seemed to cut her off mid-thought on many answers. ABC should release the entire, unedited interview, so that Americans can judge her more fairly.

 

After watching 247 fragmented clips of the interview on Youtube, I came away thinking Palin did OK.  Not great, just OK.  But I also thought that in a way, "OK" was all Palin might have needed to be.

The bar was set so low for her in so many places, that as long as she didn't confuse the Russian invasion of Georgia for Sherman's burning of Atlanta, she might actually gain ground in some warped way.

However, after reading the full interview  transcripts, you do have to think that in this day and age of mega-bandwidth, ABC should release the full, unedited video.  And you'd have to think there is something in it for them in terms of attention and advertising dollars.

Obama Probably Doesn't Even Know He Did Something Wrong

Everyday, all over the Internet, people throw around the word "treason" very lightly.  However, when I use the word treason right now in regards to Barak Obama, I'm not making that mistake.  Link: From the New York Post:

WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview.

In all seriousness, this warrants an objective and bipartisan investigation.

Shock and Wow

If there was ever an example of the statement "the best defense is a good offense" in action, last night's speech by Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention was it.

Over several days of criticism [an understatement of there ever was one] by Democrats, the media, and classless Internet posters [understatement number two], and even Republicans at times, Governor Palin remained silent.  And, to a large extent, so did the McCain campaign.

But last night, Palin came out swinging with a speech that rallied those in attendance to a fever pitch.  She did not come out swinging in blind-rage, but rather in calculated mockery of the opposition.  Rather than defend her small town roots, she basked in it.  Rather than get frustrated or intimidated at the recent assault, Palin set her jaw, smiled and delivered one great line after another.

There's a long way to go, and Palin's performance last night was only the beginning of a long and tortuous road.  But from where this observer sits, skeptical of all politicians right and left, it's hard not to be impressed over Sarah Palin.

-----------------

Best lines of the night:

"I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening. We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."

"Do you know what they say the difference is between a hockey mom and a Pit Bull?  A hockey mom wears lipstick."

Threats from Daily News Columnists

Fatimah Ali in today's Daily News:

If McCain wins, look for a full-fledged race and class war, fueled by a deflated and depressed country, soaring crime, homelessness - and hopelessness!

The election is still several months away and already liberals are threatening what will happen if Barack Obama loses.  Vote for our guy or it will be anarchy!

"Race war" is certainly hyperbole that only a newspaper columnist could generate, but by the same token, it is easy to envision a scenario in which a lot of misguided bitterness is expressed in the event Obama should lose.

Did He Really Say This? Vol. 89

Barack Obamaon taxes and the economy:

“If you talk to Warren [Buffett], he’ll tell you his preference is not to meddle in the economy at all — let the market work, however way it’s going to work, and then just tax the heck out of people at the end and just redistribute it,” Obama said. “That way you’re not impeding efficiency, and you’re achieving equity on the back end.” He continued by saying that he thought there was some merit in Buffett’s argument. But, he said: “I do think that what the argument may miss is the sense of control that we want individuals to have in determining their own career paths, making their own life choices and so forth. And I also think you want to instill that sense of self-reliance and that what you do will help determine outcomes.”

Well, at least he is generous enough to let us keep our sense of self-reliance after taxes.

Political Punch

An exchange Barrack Obama had with reporters prior to his speech in Berlin [via Jake Tapper's Political Punch]:

A reporter noted that the campaign has been distributing fliers to Berliners to drum up attendance.

"Why don't you guys go out and distribute some fliers?" Obama asked. "Is that a conflict for you guys?"

Joked a cable news correspondent: "We have been. It's called television."

It's not a joking matter at this point to those of us who think Obama is being shoved down our throats 24/7, it's an absurd amount of coverage.