A Brief History of US Immigration
Immigration to the US, 1820-2007 v2 from Ian Stevenson on Vimeo.
Hat-tip: Andrew Sullivan.
Sphere: Related ContentObama’s Victory Speech
Once again, you can find a high-quality version at the BBC.
Sphere: Related ContentMcCain’s Concession Speech
Also viewable in higher quality at the BBC.
Final Presidential Debate
From: Mike Rouse.
Palin’s Turn to Apologise
A few weeks ago I was decrying the smear attacks launched by the left against Sarah Palin by the likes of Dailykos. I felt that they were unwarranted, unfair and a degradation of political culture. I argued that it was precisely the sort of behaviour that gives politics a bad name, and commended the candidates at least for staying above the mindless sectarianism, sticking to the issues at hand. In the process I suggested that Dailykos should apologise for its part in continuing the disreputable trend that ultimately damages public life as a whole.
It is therefore with a certain degree of dismay that I discovered that Governor Palin herself has now made a gutter attack on Barack Obama. She accuses him of being supported by a domestic terrorist because he once made the acquaintance of Bill Ayers, the founder of the notorious Weathermen terrorist group. She did this on the flimsiest of evidence.
When the West is on the edge of its seat looking for leadership over a financial crisis, the best she can offer is a personal attack. The continuation of the facile meme that anyone who does not sign up to the GOP line on foreign policy is a terrorist sympathiser has reached its final, and ultimately absurd, conclusion. “Below the belt” does not even begin to decribe it: this was a calculated, vicious attack that has no place in civilised political discussion. It is totally unbecoming of a serious politician. This is the sort of politics that both campaigns were supposed to offer a change from.
It would be utterly inconsistent and textbook partisan of me to decry the smears of one side while simultaneously ignoring or justifying those of the other, and I have no intention of doing so: Palin must apologise. If the McCain campaign want to restore integrity to Washington they could start by getting their own house in order. It’s not even fair comment. It went beyond the usual levels of personal attck into something much more sinister and revolting. McCain of all people ought to know better, particularly given the Manchurian Candidate line of attack spun by Bush against him eight years ago.
I am not an Obama supporter, but after this incident I don’t think I can continue to back the McCain-Palin ticket in good conscience. Unless they apologise for this loathsome stunt, I am going to climb back onto the fence. What a let-down.
Sphere: Related ContentPalin for President
It had to happen eventually:
Sphere: Related ContentPig In Lipstick: An Alternative Explanation
Barack Obama’s comment describing the McCain-Palin campaign as “lipstick on a pig” has attracted an avalanche of bad publicity for the Democrats. Whether or not it was an actual attack on Sarah Palin, it remains a foolish choice of phrase.
This is not because of any perceived sexism, or necessarily because Obama has lost his nerve over the appointment. It is because it is entirely off-message.
Obama is supposed to be promoting himself as an outsider bringing change to Washington politics and rising above petty partisan bickering and name-calling. That he has engaged in precisely such name-calling undermines one of the central messages of his campaigns.
Picking Biden and going negative may come to be seen as the biggest mistakes of his campaign.
Sphere: Related ContentSarah Palin’s Acceptance Speech
She pulled it off. The video’s split into five parts, so use the annotations at the end to move to the next one. The speech proper starts about two minutes in.
Sphere: Related ContentWhat was DailyKos Thinking?
Barack Obama has rightly condemned the vicious rumours peddled about Sarah Palin’s family life.
Let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people’s families are off limits, and people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin’s performance as governor, or her potential performance as a vice president. “And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and, you know, teenage children, that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that’s off limits.
Someone else on the blogosphere said it, but I can’t remember who it was, that bringing his own circumstances in there was above and beyond the call of duty. We can at least be thankful for his decency in the matter.
But now that the dust has settled on this rather ignominious episode of what has otherwise been an exhilarating campaign so far, we can start to look at the implications and consequences.
First, this highlights the danger of the new medium of the internet: a rumour based on little more than the uninformed opinion of someone looking at a photograph spread across the internet like wildfire and led to a completely unwarranted invasion of the private life of the Palin family. I know Guido thinks that the mainstream media exercises too much restraint, but this shows that this is not a binary question, but one of drawing a line. Where stories risk severely tarnishing the reputation of someone else, there should at least be a degree of fact-checking before we hit the “publish” button.
News media has followed an inexorable trend towards ever-faster news. It is however acknowledged that such progress also brings with it pitfalls.
I am not a fan of outside regulation of the internet: its status as a bastion of free speech is too precious to be spoilt. That does not however give us free rein to publish whatever we like with no consideration for other factors. The right of free speech has always entailed the duty to exercise it responsibly: if bloggers wish to avoid calls for outside regulation, they must learn to self-regulate. Getting the news first at any cost is not of benefit to the public discourse.
What worries me about this incident is that stories such as these have little public interest, yet massively damaging consequences. Public morality does not come into it: if you really wanted to preserve the morals of the nation, you would not be publishing this information.
The rumour bears an unpleasant resemblance to the ones that dogged McCain in 2000. Then, you may recall, the Arizona Senator’s adopted daughter Bridget, was accused of being the product of an affair. She only discovered this upon googling herself. No parent should have to have such a conversation about their child like that, and no child should be subjected to such vicious mudslinging. Imagine what Bristol Palin will have to say to her child on the day they decide, innocently enough, to google herself?
DailyKos owe the Palin family an apology. There was no public interest in this story.
UPDATE: The Spectator has picked up on the story, pointing out that the McCain campaign are planning on a “with friends like these” counter-attack. This may yet become an even bigger own-goal for Democrat bloggers.
Sphere: Related ContentGuest Post: The Smearing of Palin is Politics at its Worst
by Edgard Portela
As I predicted a few days ago, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is John McCain’s Vice-Presidential running mate. I could not be any more ecstatic and proud of my party - we are tearing away the misconceptions and stereotypes perpetrated by the left and making history all on our own. The American people now have a choice between two historic tickets - picking the first woman Vice-President and picking the first Black President. It’s an exciting time.
Not only that - but Sarah Palin has, in my opinion, more experience than Obama. –What people forget is that being a legislator is immensely different to being a Governor. Has Obama ever been Commander of a state’s National Guard? Sarah Palin is. Has Obama had to work with a legislature to balance the budget TWICE and do it without raising taxes? Sarah Palin has. Who has actively fought corruption within their state party? Taken on oil companies? Once again, Sarah Palin has. In two years, Sarah Palin has easily gained more executive experience than Obama or Biden could even dream of having. Incidentally, Sarah Palin has the same level of experience as Governor Tim Kaine, who nobody was criticisingas inadequately prepared. Of course she still has room for more, but two years as Governor, with actual palpable achievements stand sharply in contrast with Obama’s lack of legislative accomplishments.
The left knows that Sarah Palin is a strong candidate, capable of challenging the whole “change” theme that Obama has been promoting for a while, and offers a stark contrast to his and Senator Biden’s “charisma”…which usually leads to him putting his foot in his mouth.
Since Friday’s announcement, the left has wasted no time throwing about mud in the hope that some of it sticks. For example:
- Daily Kos speculates that Palin’s baby with Down’s Syndrome is actual the child of her eldest daughter and Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover it up. (They’ve been watching too many Desperate Housewives episodes.)
- Wired Magazine claims that Palin wants creationism taught in schools.
- Florida Democrat Robert Wexler accuses Palin of being a Nazi sympathizer.
- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says Palin is a worse VP pick than Dan Quayle (If he truly believed that, you’d think he’d be happier).
And that’s just for starters.
This is ridiculous. It’s horrendously disappointing to see the left resorting to this kind of politics. They are throwing out their so-called commitment to women by throwing petty lies and false claims at a woman who actually as a chance to become America’s Vice-President. (Come on. Ferraro had no chance. No one could have beat Reagan in ‘84.) If they could provide substantiated criticisms, that would be another story.
Not only is the left displaying their hypocrisy, they are showing how desperate they are to win this election. Sad, isn’t it?
Edgard Portela is a student from Michigan and has been a volunteer on the McCain campaign since mid-2007.
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