Y-not on October 6, 2008 at 1:40 PM

Please allow me to also chime in here. As a fellow Ph.D., who has been at both a large public university and a smallish private university, in my experience there was a broad range of the quality of students. Some were quite bright and others had trouble finding their way to class, day after day. One thing that did seem almost universal was that the students who transferred from community colleges were much more serious about their academics. I highly recommend community colleges for most students, simply because the finances are easier to manage; also, in our area the universities encourage students to attend their first two years at a CC, and if their GPAs are 3.5, they are automatically accepted to some very respected institutions. Regardless of the route they go, though, the research indicates that success isn’t predicted by where students attend nearly to the degree as by what the student brings to the table–bright, motivated students generally will achieve success when they finish college.

That’s funny, I feel the exact way sometimes. I couldn’t convince conservatives on this site that Obama really graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law. A blindly obvious fact.

Ric on October 5, 2008 at 11:56 PM

The reason that there are some people who raise questions about Obama’s academic credentials is that (1) his camp has made such a big point of touting how “smart” he is based on his academic training, but (2) there is not a lot of evidence of his academic accomplishments.

Personally, I do not care about his academic credentials, but as someone who received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, even I have a hard time taking his claim of academic chops seriously with no publications to his name after years on the faculty at U of C. The fact that the U of C offered him a tenure-track position without him having any scholarly publications (aside from one unsigned one in the Harvard Law Review from his law school days) is very puzzling, but whatever! At the end of the day, my objections to Obama have to do with his political philosophy, poor judgment, and dirty political tactics, not whether or not he was given his academic appointment based on scholarly achievement or because of affirmative action.

Unlike Obama and his supporters, Governor Palin has not claimed that her academic background is one of her primary qualifications for high office. Despite this fact her political opponents have tried to smear her based on her academic record, implying that attending more than one undergraduate school, including *gasp* state schools, somehow disqualifies her. In my experience as a former faculty member at a Big 10 school, many outstanding students these days wind up transferring schools or taking more than 4 years to graduate, often because of family obligations or financial concerns. Is that why I will vote for a ticket with Palin on it? Of course not, but her experience as a student making her way through school shaped who she is, just as Obama’s experience being offered a tenure-track faculty job without the scholarly credentials to merit it shaped his.

FC, do you get the sense over at those sites that they are sincere? I ask because if they are, it tells me even more the media is pushing polls to influence the election.

In what other election since Reagan have people been as fired up like with Palin, with so many traditional ‘Crat voters willing to vote for the GOP ticket?

…and they claim B’HO is up in the polls?

91Veteran on October 6, 2008 at 12:27 AM

I agree with funky chicken, the PUMA movement is very real and quite sincere based on the sites I’ve been monitoring, as well as the postings by PUMAs on blog sites that are frequented by folks with a broad spectrum of political beliefs (such as Ann Althouse, neoneocon, Erin Brockovich). I don’t have a good feel for what kind of numbers we’re talking about, but I think the PUMAs will go out to vote and, perhaps more importantly, I think they will persuade friends on the fence to vote for McCain-Palin.

The PUMAs are infuriated by the strong-arm tactics that Obama’s camp used in the primaries and convention. The more that the MSM and O! supporters try to suppress dissent, the angrier they become. And, because these folks were mainstream democrats, they are in a position to influence other democrats and independents in a way that most of us probably are not able to do.

I think the PUMAs could help tip the election in McCain’s favor. It’s important not to dismiss them or assume that they were only supporting Hillary because of her gender. They recognize the same dangerous qualities in Obama that many of us have pointed out — he is woefully inexperienced, quick to play the race card against those that oppose him, and will use any dirty tactic possible to get elected.

The PUMAs are fighters. I’m glad they’re on our side.

Conservatives do not hate liberals.

I’m starting to…time to pray…I guess

OT: I don’t know if anyone has posted this. It’s fabulous!

BTW I’m Voting For Mccain / Palin

Connie on October 6, 2008 at 12:32 AM

Great stuff! Who is he?

Oh and my son’s Robot Chicken video…we’re talking tonight…had no idea and I guess that is my fault…

George W. Bush appointed the first two black secretaries of state, but does anyone on the left regard him as a racial trailblazer? When I raised that question to another liberal, she dismissed the idea, saying Bush “never thought about race.”

That exchange took place three years ago, but I still can’t grasp her logic. How does she know what Bush thought? Why would it be more important than what he does?

This quote reveals more about the author and her leftist peers than I think she realizes. No, George Bush did not think about race. He thought about skill sets and temperaments. He filled positions with competent people irrespective of race.

When you fill a position in order to be a racial trailblazer, you neither blaze a trail nor do you further colorblindness.

Here’s a group of patriotic democrats:

http://wewillnotbesilenced2008.com/

Here’s one that needs donations to run anti-Obama ads in battleground states:

http://tdg.typepad.com/democrats_for_principle_b/

I’d suggest looking at some PUMA blogs. Here’s a good one:

http://pumaalliance.wordpress.com

They will make you stand up and cheer.

funky chicken on October 6, 2008 at 12:21 AM

Wow just absolutely disturbing …I am aware of what is happening in Ohio re voter fraud but I had no idea what had happened in the primaries at the caucuses…OMG the Obama- Soros and whoever else is involved are going to try to steal the election or try to stop voter participation by intimidation… the vote tally is going to take months! there will not be a declared winner on the 5th…

It was bad enough to read yesterday about how the MSM is actively suppressing information favorable to McCain (not just being totally in the tank for Obama)…then the polls are being weighted to give Obama the advantage…and now this…I’m getting really scared…someone said CWII yesterday…not far fetched…

I couldn’t convince conservatives on this site that Obama really graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law. A blindly obvious fact. Reason , evidence, or logic couldn’t convince any of the posters to come around to the truth

Really? Then why can’t anyone find his thesis? If he’s such a brilliant know-it-all, why wouldn’t he post it on his website to demonstrate his great intelligence? Reporters who are trying to find it keep getting turned away–what’s he trying to hide?

After all, he wrote two books about his favorite subject–himself! Why can’t we read what he thinks about other people? Why can’t we read about his great achievements as a community organizer? Why can’t we read about the great improvements he made to Chicago schools as chairman of the Annenberg Challenge board?

If his life was REALLY an open book, maybe people would prefer the other guy.

Palin needs to hammer over and over again how drilling for oil and gas, building new refineries, developing nuclear facilities, and mining will energize the market with jobs directly and indirectly related to those fields, will provide for the energy needs of Americans without jeopardizing their security, and will lessen the strain on their pocketbooks, bringing down the cost of food and heating/cooling and delivery of goods.

Obama has no such plan. Period.

Palin speaks from experience and conviction in the area of energy and the economy.

especially independents and centrists who will drive this election result. – lexhamfox on October 5, 2008 at 10:14 PM

I am tired of the “centrist” and “moderate” crap. I wish we would all call it what it is “liberal light”. How can abortion be “moderate”. Either it’s OK to exterminate children or it is not. What is a centrist position on gay marriage, it either strengthens the family (which still is the building block of society) or it weakens it. I suppose you can be moderate in how much government intervention you are willing to accept in your life. Whatever the case, I do not believe the republicans can peel away votes from the democrats by fielding “centrist” candidates. It might work for some “issue oriented” voters but it appears to me that the evidence suggest this is not a winning strategy for the republicans.

T-shirt wrap-around I’d buy:
Obamaayersjeremiahwrighttonyrezkoinfanticide.

If you were to go to the Daily Kos I would assure that the exact same position has been taken as you often, except they would say that right wing fanatics can not and will not be reasoned with instead of leftwing moonbats.

Ric on October 5, 2008 at 11:56 PM

Ric:

I have a dKos user ID. When I post there, I try to be very very subtle… very indirect questions or comments. Were I to be as direct there as you are here, I would no longer have a dKos user ID.

CC

Pop Quiz!

What political group does the liberal-socialist media despise even more than conservatives?

Answer: Libertarians

You’re slightly off. The only thing liberal-socialists despise more than conservatives is pro-life libertarians.

Not only are pro-life libertarians dedicated to getting government control out of everything, they don’t think preventing the murder of children in utero is something the state should “get out of.”

Liberal-socialists are fine with libertarians who believe abortion is “about a woman’s body” and therefore the state “shouldn’t meddle (just send tax $$$),” because abortion is the foundation of liberal-socialism. Killing the unborn for no reason is merely the first logical step in killing everyone else for no reason.

What political group does the liberal-socialist media despise even more than conservatives?

Answer: Libertarians

I don’t know about that. Liberals and libertarians often have common cause. Iraq for one example, drug legalization for another, abortion for a third.

have to disagree. There was lots of genuine interest and excitement when she was picked and nobody had any exposure to her. Having heard her speak a number of times, and having looked at past speeches and interviews, I have to say she is fully unprepared for high office. We need competent government and she does not instill any confidence whatsoever. America needs someone of Thatcher’s ilk right now and Palin ain’t Maggie by any means. Maggie could think on her feet and engage the press… not run and hide for training. There are plenty of capable Republican women who could have made McCain’s choice of a woman more interesting to the public… especially independents and centrists who will drive this election result.

lexhamfox on October 5, 2008 at 10:14 PM

And your qualifications to determine who is and is not qualified for public office are?
It is all well and good that we have opinions but that is all they are, our opinions.
I think she is qualified so my thinking she is nullifies your thinking she is not. I assume you will be voting for the, I assume you think, more qualified BO and I know I will be voting for vastly more qualified, based on both being senators, McCain so again we nullify each other.

What political group does the liberal-socialist media despise even more than conservatives?

Answer: Libertarians

A Libertarian, or in Sarah’s case, a libertarian Republican represents a hardcore limited government view, versus the “limited government lite” of Conservatives.

Thus the vitriolic response to one of America’s top elected libertarians in the Nation, who just happens to represent the most libertarian State of the Nation.

But we’d be seeing the exact same vitriol spewed forth, if any other elected libertarian Republican had been McCain’s pick: Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, SC Gov. Mark Sanford, AZ Cong. Jeff Flake, FL Cong. Tom Feeney, or even libertarian-conservatives like Cong. Eric Cantor or OK Sen. Tom Coburn.

The liberal-socialist media would find something to tear those libertarian Republicans apart, as well.

If McCain didn’t want the heat, he shouldn’t have chosen a libertarian as his running mate. But then again, he would have lost a massive amount of votes to the Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party had he not chosen Sarah Palin.

Bradky on October 6, 2008 at 6:58 AM

Regarding fanaticism, of course it exists on both sides. I have not heard nearly as much coming from Conservatives as from the Left (and I have not heard many of the canards you cited, although I recognize they must be out there). Please note, also, that I typically do not refer to “Republicans” or “Democrats” unless I am referring to the parties in general, as there are some Democrats who are more conservative than some Republicans.

Regarding Brodderick, the only “proof” ever available regarding rape is DNA, and Clinton raped her long before there was use of DNA evidence. Nevertheless, if you do not believe her, you simply have to look at the various things Mr. Clinton has admitted to to recognize his character. The fact that his party will not shun him speaks about their values.

If you believe I was referring to the “Foster-Chelsea”-type slander when I said “sober look,” you misunderstood me. I am referring to what those of us who oppose Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama do as we look at both character and objectives. Anyone who lies, cheats, or manipulates has bad character–I apply the same standards to all. And, anyone who wants to boss me around and compel me to live their vision because they think I should be more “compassionate” is a tyrant, whom I will oppose until my dying day.

Those are just some of the things floating around out there and to call that behavior “a sober look” is beyond the pale.

Bradky on October 6, 2008 at 6:58 AM

Wouldn’t that depend of what the definition of “is” is?

The left in this country are a vile, putrid bunch that will go to any ends to achieve their utopian Marxist society. They are truly an enemy of the Republic and this attempt by some on the right to treat them as if they were moral, caring human beings is a lost cause.

rplat on October 5, 2008 at 10:23 PM

And so are we to sit by and watch as these the enemies of this republic continue on towards their goal? where are the John Adams of our times? where are the Patriots who would stand up and defend this nation from being taken over by those who would see her irrevocably harmed by the likes of Pelosi, Reid, Obama et al..
When will good men stand up and say enough is enough? Where are the Sons of Liberty when we need them, we approach a dark hour in our nations history, will we be content to bury our heads in the sand and wait for four more years and hope that one will come along that can lead us back to the principles from which we have be founded? Or will we watch as opposing opinions are met with cries of racism and the guarantee of free speech is strangled by those who wont hear the other side or as we have our second amendment stripped from us, where are those Men? do they even exist in this modern time?

Sapwolf on October 6, 2008 at 1:21 AM

I’d go one step further and say that the dems have lost all sense of sincerity since they began pandering to special interest groups. Since the 60’s I’d guess.

Conservatives have principles that they live on a daily basis. The espouse those values and people of like minds flock to them.

Liberals use faux concern to gather votes for one simple goal….personal power. They don’t really care about minorities. I they did, they would encourage personal responsibility and wholesome values. The liberals are as bad as the slave owners were, they USE and ABUSE minorities for their own ends.

Although I am sure there is some irrational hatred of Clinton, and perhaps Obama…
DrMagnolias on October 6, 2008 at 6:24 AM

SOME? Come on. Vince Foster is Chelsea’s Dad, Vince Foster was murdered, Obama is a Manchurian candidate, Obama will introduce Sharia, Obama will change the flag design, etc. Janita B made a claim for which no proof was ever offered but we are supposed to shun clinton? Would you apply the same standard to the false charges about Bush’s guard service?

Those are just some of the things floating around out there and to call that behavior “a sober look” is beyond the pale.
At least be honest enough to recognize fanatacism from either side of the political spectrum or you risk becoming the prisoner of the school of thought you defend.