Less than 24 hours ago, Richard wrote this about Palin's interview performance: "She came across as someone who is ill-informed, clever but lacking intellectual depth and rigor, and simply not knowledgable about most of what has been going on in the world."
That should be enough for sane, reasonable people to oppose her as VP. Now the New York Times has unveiled a front page story for tomorrow, based on extensive reporting and record searches, that paints a fuller picture of what she has been like as a mayor and governor.
A pattern emerges of Palin as ambitious (when she won her first mayor's race, a friend told her "you could be governor in 10 years," she replied, "I want to be president."), vinctive (firing public officials who cross her or for personal reasons), hiring friends and cronies who often appear just as unqualified for their jobs and she is for VP (hired a high school classmate real estate agent to head the State Agriculture Commission, who cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification), giving preference to friends and shutting out enemies. She appointed as Attorney General a man no one in government had ever heard of, from such a small town practice that he had a one-room office.
Campaigning for governor as a reformer, she has gotten rid of much of the old establishment but substituted her own cronies over whom she exerts tight control; and, whereas she promised open government, she now runs her office with a secrecy "that is off the charts," according to one person who has tried to get information. Mayors and other who need to meet with the governor complain about her inaccessibility, their letters are ignored.
Hmmm ... hiring unqualified cronies for vital government positions, not very curious about the world at large, cultivates an image as tough but folksy, convinced she's right and invincable. Sound familiar? Does it scare you enough to go to work for Obama?
Ralph
Posts
Abbreviated Pundit Roundup
31 minutes ago
1 comment:
The bigger picture is scarier. It's a given that this description fits Cheney/Bush, but somehow I thought better of the Republican Party and that this behavior did not permiate the rank and file. Now, come to find out Palin follows the same drummer, and the only comments I hear from the Republican Party are that she is just a tough reformer. So, now I wonder about the entire Party. As a moderate, I have voted for individuals, not party affiliation, and supported selective Republicans in the past. I would be hesitant to give them an even break, now.
Post a Comment