What did you think of Gov. Sarah Palin's speech to the Republican National Convention?

"gotta like her fiestiness, though" Cheers to that!

 So, McCain was in the bottom fifth of his naval class. I will check to see if that is factually true or not, but even if it is true...so what? Albert Einstein never completed high school...and yet he is universally regarded as a great genius. If you've ever looked at a Medical Doctor's degree, or a Lawyer's degree, you will notice that neither one lists the individual's class ranking. If a medical school graduates 150 new doctors, you can be sure of one thing....there will be a lot of doctors ranked in the top half of their class, and the rest of them will be ranked in the bottom half. One of those doctors will be ranked dead last (pardon the pun) in  his class...and yet he will still be doctor...maybe YOUR doctor. Most degrees are overrated anyway...the bulk of the learning occurs AFTER the graduation ceremony, when the individual actually begins working in the real world.

 I don't care where they finished in their respective classes. Like I said, I don't consider college or high school to be real world experience. I don't care that Biden wasn't a spectacular student but I DO care that he's a plagiarist because it goes to character and happened WAY after college.

 Turn off Fox news? I was actually disappointed last night when I had Fox news on...during the speech, and immediately after, I thought the commentators were rather reserved with their enthusiasm,or lack thereof.  However, I was more interested in seeing what kind of blather CNN was going to put on, and I wasn't disappointed. Throughout Palin's speech, CNN kept putting up 'facts' at the bottom of the screen. I saw maybe five in all, but the first three really caught my attention. To paraphrase: Before she entered politics, Palin worked for her husband's fishing business...and part time as a TV reporter. This was an obvious attempt to imply that she had no real political background. The second 'fact' was, 'McCain first met her in February of 2008'...while it may be true, the implication was that he barely knows her. And the third 'fact' was that she entered politics as a maverick and tried to distance herself from the Republicans in her state...the implication being that she's not hard-core Republican. Democrats love to bash Fox, but CNN is the most blatently liberal biased media source in the country. I don't see why they don't just change their call letters to DNN...the Democrats News Network.

So, McCain was in the bottom fifth of his naval class.

 Yes...McCain isn't the sharpest tack in the drawer but on the flip side, great intellect doesn't necessarily translate to great leadership...a silver tongue won't improve the economy or get us the heck out of Iraq with some measure of dignity...it will take action and tough decisions and a willingness to work with the other party to get it done...both claim they will do that...now if we can just figure out which of these characters is telling the truth....

 Since we're quoting numbers, Biden graduated 72 out of 85 in his class. Still doesn't matter to me as much as his post-college plagiarism.

 Mo...what's your point? Yes, she was reading from a script...do you honestly think that Obama and Biden were speaking 'off the cuff'? Of course not...they both had canned speeches written by seasoned, Democratic writers. And I'm sure McCain's speech was also written by veteran Republican writers. This is not news; Presidential nominees have been reading speeches written by others for as long as these conventions have been held. A lot has been said about the comparisons between Palin and Biden...how about Palin and Obama? He's been a senator for ONLY two years, and has NEVER introduced a single piece of legislation. And, during legislative votes, instead of voting 'yea or nay', he has replied, "Present", 131 times. He has proven he can't (or won't) take a stand as a senator...and we're supposed to vote him into the most powerful position in the country? Talk about taking a chance on a great unknown.  The last time we had this kind of rhetoric-and election, we voted Jimmy Carter into office...and had 24% mortgage rates within two years...his four years were the closest thing we had to a depression since 1929.But lets stay with Palin for now...Democrats and liberals have been bashing her all week. But, when Michelle Obama made her infamous remark, "For the FIRST time, I'm proud to be an American".....remember that? Republicans were outraged...and they were told by the Democrats that her comment was just a figure of speech, and that she didn't mean it the way it came out. And the Dems summarily swept it under the carpet.  Trust me, if Palin had said something even remotely close to Michelle's comment, she (Palin) would have been run out of the country by the Democrats. Barack's comment regarding 'small town minds with their religious beliefs and guns'  has already been swept under the carpet by the Democrats. And now he and his Democrats profess outrage about Palin's remarks regarding community activists? Talk about the kettle calling the pot black...

I do think that Sarah Palin has some experience, but still not enough. She has a bachelors in Journalism and doesn't have a passport. How come Law Firms, Hospitals, Corporations, and Finance companies all want Ivy league graduates who have had internships and rotations in major cities and hospitals, but when it comes to the second most powerful job in the country, having a journalism degree and being involved in politics in the least populated state of the Union is something to gush about. I just don't get it. When you get surgery don't you look for a surgeon that has worked in busy hospitals for years. If you want financial advice wouldn't you get the most experienced person you know. You wouldn't get someone that "is like you" or that you can relate to. Why is political office different? Republicans are just trying to come up with some reason to support her. Obama as a community organizer in Chicago probably dealt with more people that Palin did in the whole state of Alaska.( Let me say I don't think Obama is qualified as well). Let me ask every Republican from Pittsburgh this. If Dan Onaroto was elected governor next year, spent one year in office, then was picked as a Vice Presidential nominee would you say he was qualified. I don't think so, and Pittsburgh/ Allegheny County is way more complicated than Alaska. Think about it.

 staying with numbers....how about 7....number of times Biden got draft exemptions during the Vietnam War...finally got his draft status changed to unavailable (4F?) because he had asthma as a child...supports the old saying....the rich get richer and the poor get their butts shot off in war...

 "If you are ashamed of people that love this country, I am ashamed that you are aloud (sic) to vote" sounds a lot like you are saying: 'if you disagree then you shouldn't have any say at all.'

Is that what you are saying?   Is that what this political dialogue has come to?

What has made this country great is people voicing differing opinions, hearing the opposing side and keeping an open mind.  I am not seeing alot of that lately.  It's alot of "my way or the highway."  And CLEARLY (another word often substitued for logic in an argument)  you must be an idiot if you think ____ (fill in blank)....that's another one I am not impressed with...

I think that that is why I am having alot of issues with Sarah Palin as a VP pick.  If you didn't agree with the way she ran things in Alaska, she would just fire you or get you fired down the road. And a lot of references to God being on her side in issues (not necessarily in this speech but quotes)--again if you don't agree with Sarah, are you going against God? That's the implication.

And I think she didn't address real issues. 

She just came off as the pit bull with lipstick (her words, not mine).  People wanted red meat and she provided it.  Great. 

Can we address real issues, please?  ON BOTH SIDES? 

I think Gov. Palin hit the ball out of the park with a grand slam performance.   Her speech was extremely well written and she brought a virtuoso delivery.   There is no doubt in my mind that she is ready to step in the national spotlight.  Palin did an excellent job painting a very Normal Rockwellesque picture of her life as a small town hockey mom with a family that's got it's problems (just like every other family).   She comes form humble origins, and has a great sense of what being a public servant is all about - to SERVE. 

She's a hard-core conservative - which will appease the GOP faithful. She's staunchly pro-life which the evangelicals love. She's a lifetime NRA member which the gun nuts love. She hunts & fishes (which appeals to the outdoors people).

Her husband is a member of a union (which isn't a conservative thing, but it does lend a dash of the blue collar work ethic thingie). He's an oil worker & a fisherman...also blue collar stuff. And her son enlisted in the army & is going to Iraq (which brings along a sense of patriotism & self sacrifice).

She served as a city counsel person, mayor & then governor which means she's got executive experience.

Downsides: She's not a Washington insider which means she doesn't have in-roads. She doesn't have a ton of foreign policy experience. But then again, neither does Sen. Obama. (But inexperience never seemed to be an issue with the left...until now). 

 Stiller...of course you are welcome to have your opinions, as are all of us. But, read the posts first...and if you do, you will see that your opinion of Palin being unqualified to be VP is second in importance ONLY to the notion of Obama being president. If you read all of the facts, you'll see that the inexperience that Palin has is still MORE than the experience that Obama has. Sure, if something happens to McCain, she steps into the Presidency...but that's a BIG IF. On the other hand, if Obama wins, he automatically assumes the Presidency...with even less experience than Palin has. As mentioned in other posts, Obama has NEVER voted on any piece of legislation, and has never introduced legislation that he sponsored or co-sponsored. His voting record? Answering "Present" 131 times when he should have been answering "yea" or "Nay"?  That's not leadership, not in the least. And you want to make him president?  That's puzzling...

 Palin is on the ticket for one reason, to pander to the right wing of the party.  If McCain gains the White House, Palin will have served her purpose and will be quickly relegated to more traditional VP duties such as state funerals and other social events.  McCain and his staff will find no reason to involve a political light weight like Palin in it's  policy.making.

 Having re-read the many posts...and most of them are very articulate, from both sides...I have two thoughts to put out there:

1. For all of those who say they could never vote for Palin because of her inexperience, you have a serious dilemma...Obama has even less experience. If you won't vote for Palin, then you absolutely CAN'T vote for Obama, for the same reason. Unless, of course, you're a hypocrit.

2. For all of you who think that either candidate is going to make wholesale changes in the way our country is run.....RINGGGGG!!!!! Time to wake up! No one man - or woman- is capable of making those type of sweeping changes. Congress makes the laws. The president merely signs them into law, or tries to veto them. And if Congress feels strongly enough about them, they'll simply overide the president's veto and enact them anyway. Obama has made lots of generalized promises, but if Congress doesn't agree with him, those promises are  going to fail. Period. Oil and gas prices are where they are because of global demand, and the fact that oil is traded on the commodities market. No president or politician can singlehandedly bring down the price of oil..and if one of them says he can, you'll be looking at a liar.

Okay, since I'm on a roll, I have one more thing to say:

3. For those of you who are against McCain/Palin because of their conservative views, especially on abortion, here's something to think about:  Roe v. Wade occured in 1973. Until that time, abortion was illegal. A group of LIBERAL judges made abortion legal, ignoring the fact that the majority of the country disagreed with that decision. To put it in the most basic terms, those 'educated minds' essentially said that a baby's life was not as important as a mother's lifestyle. Sure, there are instances where abortion seems reasonable...cases of rape, incest, times where a mother's life may be in jeopardy....but the sad FACT remains that for many women, abortion is just a matter of convenience...a way of getting rid of a pregnancy that might interfere with her career or a relationship she might be in. For every Sarah Palin in the world who would give birth to an 'imperfect' baby, there are hundreds, if not thousands of women who would skip down to an abortion center on their lunch break and have the baby sucked out of their womb, or take a saline injection and have a miscarriage at home, just to elimininate the 'inconvenience'. It's such a sad commentary to realize that so many bloggers will bash McCain and Palin for being conservative, and at the same time enthusiastically vote for people who will continue to fight for the right to flush unborn babies down the sewer

 As incredible as it may seem, I was made aware of Mrs. Palin's wardobe choice - i.e., a dress - by a "fair and balanced" newsbabe, who pointed out that women are catty and  would criticize a woman who does not wear a pants suit.  I have never witnessed so much hatred and criticism directed at one woman by all of the far left-wing democrats, including CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC  and all of the left-wing newspapers including the Washington Post, New York Times, and countless left-wing bloggers, in all my life. The defining moment in this entire campaign occurred when Rush Limbaugh so astutely pointed out that Hillary would never get the nomination because all of the liberal left-wing media were showing her on television attempting to pour herself a cup of coffee, and she could not figure out how to operate the coffee dispensing device, thus deeming her as "out of touch". By the way, it's interesting to note that Hillary's response was "the Secret Service usually gets my coffee". I believe that instead of directing their hatred at a pretty woman in a dress, the democrats attempt to shore up their base because my limited research from the U.S. census shows: 51% of black youths age 18 to 24 (3.8 million) are not registered to vote; of the 1.8 million who were registered, 66% did not vote in the last election; that leaves roughly 600,000 age 18 to 24 who manged to vote.