Palin won't be debating Obama....

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Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses . In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin�s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

Look at what she stands for:
--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.
--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.
--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.
--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.

Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.

www.deepakchopra.com

Here is Obama's response on all the Palin family stories swirling around. He said he would fire any staffer found to be stoking the fires on these stories. I agree with him 100%:

Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown reports: At a press avail in Monroe, Mich., Barack Obama on Palin: "Back off these kinds of stories."

"I have said before and I will repeat again: People's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor and/or her potential performance as a vice president. 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 teenage children, that shouldn�t be a topic of our politics."

She banned reporters from her 1st meeting with world leaders. Only allowed access to photographers and a television crew. I'm just curious as to if anybody read as to why.

She has backed the Alaska Independence Party. Its platform calls for the defense of "states rights," to "seek the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska in conformance with Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, of the federal constitution." Basically, the AIP wants a vote on secession. The AIP says that Gov. Sarah Palin used to be a member of the party. Earlier this year, Palin recorded a welcoming address to the AIP's convention.

Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States.

And while McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- "Alaska First -- Alaska Always."

In an interview of extremists Mark Chryson and Steve Stoll helped launch Palin�s political career in Alaska, and in return had influence over policy. �Her door was open,� says Chryson � and still is.

So, this is group is just one of her past supporters. They helped her get where she is today. And dont even get me started on McCain.

is an absolute insult to women in this country. She was simply put on the ticket to try to get Hillary supporters, and seemingly was okay with that. Women have worked just as hard as any other minority in this country for equality. Regardless of that, she ran on a ticket that did not support equal wages for equal work (check out McCain's record), was against choice when it came to abortion, would like to overturn R v Wade, and every time she opens her mouth ignorance abounds.

No, I don't want her to succeed because I would hate for any other country to think she is actually a portrayal of women in this country. She is an absolute joke.

Point and click on everything -- several times (especially animals behind doors)

She could not have gotten where she is today without having brains especially since she started in the PTA and moved up. She didn't have mommy or daddy in politics bringing her name up every chance they got. She is a very admirable women, IMHO. I would be very proud to have her as VP. A woman who can raise 5 kids and be a governor......that is just remarkable. I admire the way she still had her youngest son even though the doctors told her he would have Down syndrome. She isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes. She is more of a real person to me. She hunts, she is a hockey mom. She is no b!mbo. And lastly....she is a beautiful woman and I'm not just speaking about her outer appearance. She cares. She is for the people. I think McCain made a great choice when he picked her.

I like the fact that she is NOT a Washingtonian ..... Obama took a big hit with me - all that talk about change and then he picks Biden -- who has been in Washington most of his life, who does the Democrat double talk better than most!

I like the fact that she stands up for what she believes in and fights the big boys when necessary.

I like the fact she is a normal person .... sure, they have some money but .... she has problems and is dealing with them. Her husband is blue collar worker, and to me that is a plus.

Do I think she is ready to be VP? I have to do more thinking and soul searching about that ...

Be honest about it -- they both chose their running mates based on what they hoped would help them win the most votes ... not who they really wanted or thought was most qualified!!

BUT....... she does NOT deserve the crap she is taking. That is what is wrong with politics in this country.

The people who COULD do the best job -- WON'T EVEN RUN. They won't subject themselves to the BS they have to endure .....

JMHO .. I will be watching, reading and listening over the next few months. Tough decisions to be made!

They looked great to me. Cindy McCain reached for the child, it wasn't handed off to her. Bristol looked anything but terrified. She looked proud of her mother. And well she should be. She is running for VP of the United States. I thought it was especially sweet with the little girl licked her hand to smooth down the baby's cowlick. Circus freaks are the last words I would use to describe this family.

In response to Palin�s statement that she had nothing to hide, in August 2008 the Alaska Legislature hired Steve Branchflower to investigate Palin and her staff for possible abuse of power surrounding the dismissal, though lawmakers acknowledge that �Monegan and other commissioners serve at will, meaning they can be fired by Palin at any time.�[52] The investigation is being overseen by Democratic State Senator Hollis French, who says that the Palin administration has been cooperating and thus subpoenas are unnecessary.[53] The Palin administration itself was the first to release an audiotape of Bailey making inquiries about the status of the Wooten investigation.[50][54]

the voters were concerned about the language in some of them and felt it inappropriate for their children. This was to help keep bad language away from children. Not get rid of them because a certain race, nationality, etc. wrote them. The Nazis burned books written by Jews. This is entirely different.

Obama's Kenyan birth father: In Islam, religion passes from the father to the child. Barack Hussein Obama, Sr.

Obama's Indonesian family: His stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was also a Muslim. In fact, as Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng explained to Jodi Kantor of the New York Times: "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim." An Indonesian publication, the Banjarmasin Post reports a former classmate, Rony Amir, recalling that "All the relatives of Barry's father were very devout Muslims."

The Catholic school: Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press reports that "documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim" while at a Catholic school during first through third grades. Kim Barker of the Chicago Tribune confirms that Obama was "listed as a Muslim on the registration form for the Catholic school."

Koran class: In his autobiography, Dreams of My Father, Obama relates how he got into trouble for making faces during Koranic studies, thereby revealing he was a Muslim, for Indonesian students in his day attended religious classes according to their faith.

Mosque attendance: Obama's half-sister recalled that the family attended the mosque "for big communal events." Watson learned from childhood friends that "Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque." Barker found that "Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers." One Indonesia friend, Zulfin Adi, states that Obama "was Muslim. He went to the mosque. I remember him wearing a sarong" (a garment associated with Muslims).

This along with his association with sketchy people including Ayers and his 20-year attendance to a church that promotes hates messages.....I feel I am justly right to be concerned about Obama and have reason to not trust him one iota.

Alaskans Speak (In A Frightened Whisper): Palin Is �Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, And Mean�

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama�s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat�s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.

�It was kind of disgusting,� Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the �lower 48� about life near the North Pole.

Racial and ethnic slurs may be �just Alaska� and, clearly, they are common, everyday chatter for Palin.

Besides insulting Obama with a Step-N�-Fetch-It, �darkie musical� swipe, people who know her say she refers regularly to Alaska�s Aboriginal people as �Arctic Arabs� � how efficient, lumping two apparently undesirable groups into one ugly description � as well as the more colourful �mukluks� along with the totally unimaginative �f**king Eskimo�s,� according to a number of Alaskans and Wasillians interviewed for this article.

But being openly racist is only the tip of the Palin iceberg. According to Alaskans interviewed for this article, she is also vindictive and mean. We�re talking Rove mean and Nixon vindictive.

No wonder the vast sea of white, cheering faces at the Republican Convention went wild for Sarah: They adore the type, it�s in their genetic code. So much for McCain�s pledge of a �high road� campaign; Palin is incapable of being part of one.

Tough Getting People Who Know Her to Talk
It�s not easy getting people in the 49th state to speak critically about Palin � especially people in Wasilla, where she was mayor. For one thing, with every journalist in the world calling, phone lines into Alaska have been mostly jammed since Friday; as often as not, a recording told me that �all circuits are busy� or numbers just wouldn�t ring. I should think a state that�s been made richer than God by oil could afford telephone lines and cell towers for everyone.

On a more practical level, many people in Alaska, and particularly Wasilla, are reluctant to speak or be quoted by name because they�re afraid of her as well as the state Republican Party machine. Apparently, the power elite are as mean as the winters.

�The GOP is kind of like organized crime up here,� an insurance agent in Anchorage who knows the Palin family, explained. �It�s corrupt and arrogant. They�re all rich because they do private sweetheart deals with the oil companies, and they can destroy anyone. And they will, if they have to.�

�Once Palin became mayor,� he continued, �She became part of that inner circle.�

Like most other people interviewed, he didn�t want his name used out of fear of retribution. Maybe it�s the long winter nights where you don�t see the sun for months that makes people feel as if they�re under constant danger from �the authorities.� As I interviewed residents it began sounding as if living in Alaska controlled by the state Republican Party is like living in the old Soviet Union: See nothing that�s happening, say nothing offensive, and the political commissars leave you alone. But speak out and you get disappeared into a gulag north of the Arctic Circle for who-knows-how-long.

Alright, that�s an exaggeration brought on by my getting too little sleep and building too much anger as I worked this article. But there�s ample evidence of Palin�s vindictive willingness to destroy people she sees as opponents. Just ask the Wasilla town administrator she hired before firing him because he rebelled against the way Palin demanded he do his job, or the town librarian who refused to hold the book burning Walpurgisnach Mayor Palin demanded.

Ironically, Palin was pushed into hiring the administrator by the party poobahs who helped get her elected after she got herself into trouble over a number of precipitous firings which gave rise to a recall campaign.

�People who fought her attempt to oust the librarian are on her enemies list to this day,� states Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla resident and one of the few Alaskans willing to speak on-the-record, for attribution, about Palin. In fact, Kilkenny actually circulated an e-mail letter about Palin that was verified and printed by The Nation.

For good measure, Palin booted the Wasilla police chief from office because, she told a local newspaper, he �intimidated� her.

Running on Extreme Fringe Evangelical Views
Sarah Palin drew early attention from state GOP apparatchiks when, during her first mayoral campaign, she ran on an anti-abortion platform. Normally, political parties do not get involved in Alaskan municipal elections because they are nonpartisan. But once word of her extreme fringe evangelical views made its way to Juneau, the state capitol, state Republicans tossed some money behind her campaign.

Once in office, Palin set out to build a machine that chewed up anyone who got in her way. The good, Godly Christian turns out to be anything but.

�She�s doesn�t like different opinions and she refuses to compromise,� Kilkenny notes. �When she was mayor, she fought ideas that weren�t hers. Worse, ideas weren�t evaluated on their merits but on the basis of who proposed them.�

Something else has a familiar Republican ring to it: Her tax policies, and a �refund surpluses but borrow for the future� attitude.

According to Kilkenny and others in Wasilla as well as Juneau, Palin reduced progressive property taxes for businesses while mayor and increased a regressive sales tax which even hits necessities such as food. The tax cuts she promoted in her St. Paul speech actually benefited large corporate property owners far more than they benefited residents. Indeed, Kilkenny insists that many Wasilla home owners actually saw their tax bill skyrocket to make up for the shortfall. Two other Wasillian�s with whom I spoke said property taxes on their modest, three bedroom homes rose during the Palin regime.

To an outsider, it would seem hard to do, but an oil-rich town with zero debt on the day she was inaugurated mayor was left saddled with $22 million of debt by the time she moved away to become governor � especially since nothing was spent on things such as improving the city�s infrastructure or building a much-needed sewage treatment plant. So what did Mayor Palin spend the taxpayer�s money on, if not fixing streets and scrubbing sewage?

For starters, she remodelled her office. Several times over, as a matter of fact.

Then Palin spent $1 million on an unnecessary, new park that no one other than the contractors and Palin seemed to want. Next, Sarah doled out more than $15 million of taxpayer money for a sports complex that she shoved through even though the city did not own clear title to the land; now, seven years later, the matter is still in litigation and lawyer fees are said to be close to at least half of the original estimated price of the facility.

She also worked hard to get voters approval of a $5.5 million bond proposal for roads that could have been built without borrowing. Anchorage may not be the center of the financial universe but, like good Republicans everywhere, Sarah Palin knows how to please Alaskan bankers and bond dealers.

For good measure, she turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots.

Sarah Barracuda
En route to the governor�s igloo, Palin managed to land what Anne Kilkenny says is the plumb political appointment in the state: Chair of Alaska�s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC), a $122,400 per year patronage slot with no real authority to do anything other than hold meetings. She took the job despite having no background in energy issues and, as it turned out, not liking the work.

�She hated the job,� an OGCC staff member who is not authorized to speak with the news media told me. �She hated the hours and she hated what little work there was to do. But she couldn�t figure out a way to get out of the thing without offending Gov. Murkowski� and the state Republican Party regulars, some of whom were pssed off they didn�t get appointed.

But ever the opportunist, Palin quickly concocted a way. First, she waged a campaign with the local news media claiming that the position was overpaid and should be abolished � despite the fact that she lobbied Murkowski hard to get it. Then, mounting what she saw as a white horse, Palin raised a cloud of dust by resigning from the OGCC and riding away with an undeserved reputation as a �reformer.�

But when a local reporter dared to suggest that the reformer Empress has no clothes, Palin tried to get her fired.

�She came at me like I was trying to steal her kids,� said the targeted reporter, who now works for an oil company in Anchorage. �I heard she had a wild temper and vicious mean streak but it�s nothing like you can imagine until she turns it on you.�

Not surprising since some of her high school classmates still openly call her �Sarah Barracuda,� Kilkenny insists.

Still, as a Republican Party hack Palin managed to get herself elected running under the false flag of a �reformer.�

And what did she bring to the job? No legislative experience other than a city council of a village of 5,000 people, which is smaller than some high schools in Chicago. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; after all, she needed to hire a city administrator to run Wasilla. No executive experience, except for almost being recalled as mayor. A philosophy of setting public policy based on one word: No.

According to Kilkenny, nothing. Well, nothing other than suggesting the state�s multi-multi-million dollar, oil-generated surplus be distributed to residents and finance future state needs by borrowing money. Gee, doesn�t that sound precisely what George Bush did with the surplus he inherited from Bill Clinton in 2001 and we all know in what great shape Bush�s economic policies left the nation.

It may explain why, when asked by reporters, including me, what she thought about Palin being picked to be McCain�s running mate, her mother-in-law replied with a sardonic, �What has Sarah done to qualify her to be vice president?� Of course, when the woman � said by many I spoke with to be well-respected in Wasilla � was running to succeed Palin as mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her, so that may explain the family tension.

As Governor, Palin gave the legislature no direction and budget guidelines, according to the chair of a legislative committee. But then she staged a huge grandstand play of line-item vetoing countless projects, calling them pork. �They were restored because of public outcry and legislative action,� the aide said. �She vetoed them mostly because she had no idea what they were or why they were important.�

But it was enough to get the McCain, who is mostly unobservant of the world around him anyway, to think Palin has a reputation as being �anti-pork�.

In fact, Juneau observers note that Palin kept her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork ladled out by indicted Sen. Ted Stevens. She only opposed the �bridge to nowhere� after it became clear that it would be politically unwise to keep supporting it, these same insiders assert. Then, Palin fell back on her old habits and publicly humiliated him for pork-barrel politics.

As for being �ready on day one� to be commander in chief, despite the repeated public claims she�s made, the Alaska National Guard commander said that, �she has made no command decisions, other than sending some troops to help fight a few brush fires and march in parades at county fairs.�

�Sambo Beat the Btch�
�Palin is a conniving, manipulative, a**hole,� someone who thinks these are positive traits in a governor told me, summing up Palin�s tenure in Alaska state and local politics.

�She�s a bigot, a racist, and a liar,� is the more blunt assessment of Arnold Gerstheimer who lived in Alaska until two years ago and is now a businessman in Idaho.

Juneau is a small town; everybody knows everyone else,� he adds. �These stories about what she calls blacks and Eskimos, well, anyone not white and good looking actually, were around long before she became a glint in John McCain�s rheumy eyes. Why do I know they�re true? Because everyone who isn�t aboriginal or Indian in Alaska talks that way.�

�Sambo beat the btch� may be everyday language up in the bush. Whether it � and the outlook, politics and worldview Palin reflects when she says such things in public � should be part of a presidential campaign is another thing altogether. The comment says as much about McCain as it does about Palin, and it says a lot of things about Americans who overlook such statements (as well as her record) and vote anyway for McCain.