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A Palin skeptic takes a second look
World Magazine ^ | April 1, 2010 | D.C. Innes

Posted on 04/01/2010 6:37:22 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The Obamacare victory has changed the presidential race for 2012. The question for Republicans in choosing a candidate to go up against the sitting president is: Who has the skill, the vision, the mettle, and the integrity to drive this Behemoth back into the churning sea of political evils from whence it came? Obviously, Mitt Romney, who as governor gave Massachusetts a monster with similar features, is beyond consideration. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels may yet rise to the call of his historic duty and serve. Or not.

But some will shout from the back of the room, “Sarah Palin!” And some others of us (who are looking in at the room from the street through the windows) are accustomed to dismissing that notion with a knowing “whatever” of political sagacity. She hasn’t the intellectual preparation even at the most basic level of popular reading and general knowledge, as the Katie Couric interview during the campaign demonstrated. Aside from that, she has clearly abandoned political ambition in favor of the lucrative world of infotainment. Once a political figure signs on as a news analyst (to say nothing of reality shows), he or she has chosen the one-way political off-ramp. Mike Huckabee has made this choice. Talk show hosts do not become presidents.

But anything can happen in politics. No less than the sage of neo-conservatism, Norman Podhoretz (who was interviewed by Marvin Olasky in the current WORLD), has jolted this Palin skeptic into a second look at her potential suitability as a candidate “for such as time as this.” In a Wall Street Journal article, “In Defense of Sarah Palin,” Podhoretz concedes from the start that Sarah Palin is “no Ronald Reagan,” and he is not necessarily suggesting that she would make a great president. Nonetheless, she has qualities that are and have been dangerously missing in Democratic presidents over the last 35 years:

“Take, for example, foreign policy. True, she seems to know very little about international affairs, but expertise in this area is no guarantee of wise leadership. After all, her rival for the vice presidency, who in some sense knows a great deal, was wrong on almost every major issue that arose in the 30 years he spent in the Senate.

“What she does know—and in this respect, she does resemble Reagan—is that the United States has been a force for good in the world, which is more than Barack Obama, whose IQ is no doubt higher than hers, has yet to learn. Jimmy Carter also has a high IQ, which did not prevent him from becoming one of the worst presidents in American history, and so does Bill Clinton, which did not prevent him from befouling the presidential nest.”

While expertise in international affairs doesn’t guarantee wise leadership, I’m far from convinced there can be wise leadership without at least many years of adult attention to the ups and downs of national and international political life, whether directly or by reading great accounts of it.

Podhortez’s point, however, emphasizes the indispensable value of a moral and political orientation that’s consistent with our form of government, supports our political tradition, and recognizes the harsh realities of dealing with nations that reject our politics and basic moral outlook. She has that. And while ill-read, she is not ill-bred. Though her native intelligence may not be Bill Clinton’s, she’s clearly a fast learner and was plenty sharp enough to master Alaska politics and the oil companies up there.

In other words, if what the country needs to pull us out of our free fall into European social democracy is someone with a solid center in classical republican principles as well as the skill, vision, mettle, and integrity to pull it off politically, Sarah Palin may be the one to do it.

I’m not convinced, but I’m listening.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; gop; obama; palin; reagan; romney; romneycare; sarahpalin
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I've seen nothing yet that proves this "Obama has a high IQ" nonsense. I say that as someone eligible for MENSA membership (I'm not much into clubs) just based on my ASVAB scores.
1 posted on 04/01/2010 6:37:22 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
“She hasn’t the intellectual preparation even at the most basic level of popular reading and general knowledge, as the Katie Couric interview during the campaign demonstrated.”

The snarky Couric interview demonstrated nothing of the sort. Palin was simply (and rightly) offended at the none-too-subtle suggestion that Alaskans are unsophisticated and unlettered. Palin not only reads, she wrote a best seller.

2 posted on 04/01/2010 6:42:00 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I don’t know where to begin with this. But I’ll say one thing. Sarah Palin is smarter and better educated than the author if this feeble article.

The Couric interview? That was the result of McCain’s handlers’ malevolence and determination to lose the election. It was stacked, and her responses were distorted by selective cuts. Anyone sounds stupid if most of what they say ends up on the cutting room floor. What else could you expect from Katie Couric?


3 posted on 04/01/2010 6:45:12 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I've seen nothing yet that proves this "Obama has a high IQ" nonsense.

Exactly. He strikes me as someone with average intelligence at best. Betcha Sarah's IQ is higher!

4 posted on 04/01/2010 6:46:18 PM PDT by alicewonders
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
which is more than Barack Obama, whose IQ is no doubt higher than hers, has yet to learn.

BS

I have complete doubt about IQ of the the Commie in the White House.

We have NO PROOF he is at all intellectual but we have plenty of proof he is mistake prone and illogical.

5 posted on 04/01/2010 6:46:27 PM PDT by A message
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Indeed. I don't recall any press releases that obama was invited to the Mensa Annual Picnic.
6 posted on 04/01/2010 6:48:00 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’ve seen nothing yet that proves this “Obama has a high IQ” nonsense.

Oh yeah? Well just look at his SAT scores...or his papers from Occidental...or his work at Columbia...or all of his grades all through school and his records from Harvard...or...or...shit...

Why do we have a POtuS about whom we do not know:

1. Grade School records
2. High School records
3. Occidental College records
4. Columbia University records
5. Columbia thesis
6. Harvard Law School records
7. Harvard Law Review articles
8. Articles from the University of Chicago
9. Passport History
10. Medical records
11. Files from his years as an Illinois state senator
12. Illinois State Bar Association records
13. Birth Certificate.
14. Baptism records
15. Adoption records.

I’ve seen W’s dental records from AL, for cripes sake. This is absolutely pathetic...


7 posted on 04/01/2010 6:48:04 PM PDT by jessduntno ( If someone calls me racist, I reply "you are just saying that because I'm white!")
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA
What this amateur doesn't realize is that after 8 hours of taping, Katie Couric, editors, and Co. could make Albert Einstein look like an idiot.
8 posted on 04/01/2010 6:50:18 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: jessduntno

Adolf Hitler put it best in that Youtube video: “George W. Bush got C’s. Obama probably failed lunch.”


9 posted on 04/01/2010 6:51:47 PM PDT by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (Progressives are everything they accuse their opponents of being.)
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To: jessduntno

Why do we have a POtuS about whom we do not know...
***********

His election was the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American public since...global warming. There sure are a lot of gullible people out there.


10 posted on 04/01/2010 6:52:19 PM PDT by Canedawg (I'm not diggin' this tyranny thing.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Why don't these critics ever mention her record?
She has 16 years of political experience, and being Mayor or citycouncilwoman of any town is no small potatoes. You had to get elected to these positions, which she did.
No one handed Palin anything. Everything she accomplished, she accomplished on her own. That alone is more than enough to qualify her for the Presidency.
11 posted on 04/01/2010 6:54:56 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Islam is incompatible with American traditions and values)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Palin is a work in progress. At the time she was yanked onto the national stage, she had mastered every challenge put before her from motherhood to reforming Alaska politics to the governorship. What she has in common with Bill Clinton is that both delivered long, flawless speeches after their teleprompters failed. Palin will survive in any setting she chooses to operate in. American liberals—particularly women—are intimidated by her because they suspect, on some level, Palin is everything they should have been.
12 posted on 04/01/2010 6:57:24 PM PDT by Brad from Tennessee (A politician can't give you anything he hasn't first stolen from you.)
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To: alicewonders

I concur.


13 posted on 04/01/2010 6:57:33 PM PDT by onyx (Facts don't matter. Proof not required. Anything goes! Racial slurs, death threats.....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Yeah.. she’s so dumb that when her teleprompter froze at the convention she gave her speech from memory and brought he country to their feet in applause /s...... sheesh, this she quit her job or she dised Couric crap is getting really, really old on FR.


14 posted on 04/01/2010 6:58:11 PM PDT by Arizona Carolyn
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

If this article is for real, and not an April fools joke, then I’m glad to see that there appears to be an effort to actually look at her and not past her. I have no clue what Obama’s IQ is because he reads from a telepromter and we are not “entitled” to look at any of his records/grades. Is it because of his grades or because he is hiding who or how and where he got his student loans. Something smells, but it has since I read his alleged autobiography that Bill Ayers wrote for him.


15 posted on 04/01/2010 6:58:27 PM PDT by MotherRedDog
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To: Jay Thomas; never2late; Star Traveler; GOP_Raider; victim soul; VampireStateNY; NavyCanDo; ...

((((( Sarah is smarter than Obama PING )))))


16 posted on 04/01/2010 6:58:35 PM PDT by onyx (Facts don't matter. Proof not required. Anything goes! Racial slurs, death threats.....)
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To: jessduntno

BTTT


17 posted on 04/01/2010 6:58:54 PM PDT by onyx (Facts don't matter. Proof not required. Anything goes! Racial slurs, death threats.....)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
Exactly right. Sarah worked for all that she's achieved.
18 posted on 04/01/2010 6:59:59 PM PDT by onyx (Facts don't matter. Proof not required. Anything goes! Racial slurs, death threats.....)
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To: jessduntno
"I’ve seen nothing yet that proves this “Obama has a high IQ” nonsense. "

Don't forget the sliding curve for scores under EEO....just sayin'
19 posted on 04/01/2010 7:00:01 PM PDT by FrankR (Those of us who love AMERICA far outnumber those who love obama - your choice.)
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To: Cicero
Katie Couric?

She's in the same league with Maxine Watters and Hank "Guam" Johnson.

20 posted on 04/01/2010 7:01:25 PM PDT by lonestar (Better Obama picks his nose than our pockets!)
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