1) I had a feeling that Sarah Palin was just spitting out what her handlers have been cramming in her these last few weeks. (They forgot to tell her what the Bush Doctrine is!!) I thought it was a very tense interview, almost like a battle, and I didn't learn very much at all....except that the thought of having her for President scares the bejeebers out of me. And I agree, Matt, I heart Charlie Gibson.

2) I wish I had seen the whole thing, but I found a couple video snippets of it here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/11/sarah-palins-c...

And wow, you're right - she seems nervous extremely defensive. I can't WAIT for some debates. I seriously doubt she can hang on for another two months.

3) http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5783816

this may be the same, but it may be different. (huffington's won't open)

4) The Gibson/Palin interview was I think 3 times longer than the edited version that America watched. I have not seen the full interview but those who have said her answers were much more in depth. They edited for the time frame. Obama requested not to be edited on the O'Reilly interview for that same reason, so America could hear all of his answers. I loved Obama and O'Reilly together and Obama did great. I think the full Palin interveiw was shown on Nightline. Oh I don't know. I watched it while on the elliptical at the gym and had to read the captions so I could not pick up any nervous vibes. From what I saw...read, I think she did a good job answering questions, but I think she tried to give very "safe" answers for her first big interview.
-bek

5) Dave, You know any women that can juggle career, especially political career, and five kids can surely hold out for 2 months. But McCain being 72, more concerned about him...that's it Palin for President. Joking

6) I was wondering when anyone was going to mention Bill O'Reilly's interview with Obama. O'Reilly is the biggest jackass on the planet and definitely proves it in that interview. He wouldn't let Obama speak half the time. He'd ask a question, then interrupt as soon as he got 2 words out of his mouth! Certain right-wing individuals really need to watch that interview. He asks Obama about his "ties" to William Ayers and when Obama finally has the chance to explain the lack of connection (O'Reilly interrupted so much it took about 5 minutes for Obama to speak his answer which was all of about 2 sentences!) O'Reilly seemed pretty disappointed and still tried to make something sensational out of it! The right wing must be so proud!

On the Palin interview: I only got to watch 2 snippets, but I did see the one on the Bush Doctrine question. Jeez! Even I knew what that was! Looks like someone has a lot of cramming to do!

7) Anyone see Matt Damon's thoughts on Palin?

At some point did she really say dinosaurs were around 4,000 years ago??

She's making women look dumb and ruining it for the rest of us.

8) BTW, did you all catch her body language when he asked the Bush Doctrine question?? She did like a total defensive downshift. Then what she thought was a clever way to get more information to say "in what way" ... if I were Charlie I would have said, "in the only way, ya dumb shit". ...I will never be an interviewer.

9) There are probably more people that believe that than you would imagine. That is a scary thought! Facts, schmacts, give me the five year olds version.
I don't think she or any one woman is capable of ruining anything for anyone. Rich, old white guys still rule the world, so Bush didn't screw that up for them. Even the multitudes of corrupt and genocidal dictators of history haven't been able to cause that shift. She will look naive and overwhelmed, at worst, but I don't think that has anything to do with her being a woman.

10) By "us" Matt, I meant women. She looks dumb, then that gives stupid (rich old white) men everywhere the chance to say "see, stupid (naive) woman, they can't run a country (they'd be too overwhelmed)" then add something dumber like "they'd get their periods and blow up Russia".

I know stupid men are the demographic most think about, and ironically I would mostly say it's republican men that are like this, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Even though men have f'ed up for years, Palin will be scrutinized and used as an example against women for years to come.

(i'm not generalizing at all)

I would like to request a strong, independent, intelligent, well-rounded, educated woman to run in such a high position and get such media attention and open doors for women everyone; not someone that think thinks that dinos were around 4,000 years ago and books should be banned who's going to lock doors. Is that too much to ask for?

11) Palin did not want books to be banned, that is a terrible rumored that has been corrected on every news outlet. And I believe the state of Alaska did in fact request a strong, independent, intelligent, well-rounded, educated woman to govern their state or else they would not have elected her. I think Alaska knows her best. Give her a chance, Hayley. There are twisted facts about about all the politicians. There are twisted facts about Obama, but I am not going to believe them just because I am supporting McCain. I like Obama, think he is an extremely admirable American, my political views just line up more with McCain. I'm sorry, I just don't like people bashing political figures because of media started rumors on either side of the ticket.
-bek

12) I think it's incorrect to assume that if Palin appears weak, women in general will be viewed in the same way. If people are stupid enough to stereotype a whole gender based on her performance, their opinion doesn't mean very much to me. I might not like her very much, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to have a woman VP (or President for that matter).

Let's not treat her any different based on her gender. It's totally out of her control at this point.

13) 1. I said I was generalizing...(if you didn't catch that was sarcasm). 2. And I said that it's STUPID people that will judge on gender and generalize. And those are the people that, unfortunately, decide who wins or loses. 3. And I said I don't know if she thought dinos were around...that went for the books too. (really, i try to edit that stuff out for myself)

I started out with an open mind when it comes to Palin. But she just does not appear to be VP material to me. She appears weak. And vulnerable. She was unsure of her answers. And questions!

Her foreign policy experience is Canada, Mexico, 1 trip to Germany last year and being "next door neighbors with Russia" that does not a well rounded VP make. And she appeared far from strong and assertive during her Charlie interview; I'll wait for her to do better, she may have been nervous, but for now, I'm not a fan hers - and I'm all for the ladies in power.

14) I watched the interview with an open mind, since I had no clue about who she was or what she was bringing to the table. After seeing it, I came away with the impression that Charles Gibson was a more qualified candidate than Palin. She is certainly likable enough, and I would have no trouble voting for her as mayor, if I lived in Wasilla - probably even governor of her state. I don't think she would even be ready for Illinois politics, though - so being ready for the #2 job seems like a stretch. For heaven's sake, she's only had a passport for 14 months! Dan Quayle had more international experience.

I just hope one of her handlers corrects her "Nuke You Ler" thing if she and McCain do win. I'm not sure I can handle 4 more years of that.

15) I don't think I can handle 4 years of McCain's "Warshington" either.

16) All politicians avoid direct, to the point answers. That's part of being a politician. When a candidate starts answering a question directly, I'll vote for him/her. Hayley, it's "naive." Not trying to be mean. :))

17) I don't know what you're talking about, fritz. :)

18) Amen to that, Courtney! And McCain's creepy, forced smile puts me over the edge! If you have to force yourself to smile, just don't smile! It's looks forced and unnatural, thus the label of CREEPY.

19) I thought her answers were indeed scripted but she was very disciplined and stayed on target. I honestly felt that she was sure of her convictions and I think they came through.

I think ABC did a disservice by cutting some of her full comments, but that is to be expected from the mainstream liberal media.

I did not hear her stutter once, but I didnt catch the whole thing. Obama seems to stutter quite a bit when off the teleprompter.

Overall, a good job for the first time.

20) RM -
So after watching the interview, are you confident that she's ready to be the "Leader of the Free World"? 23 Presidents have died at a younger age than McCain is now.

21) "mainstream liberal media"...again?


Amen! Soundchick. After McCain's RNC speech, I was talking about it with some folks at work and all I could think about was how much of an emphasis to smile must have been put on him. Smiling only helps you to be likable if you're not "CREEPY" about it. I didn't even hear the words coming out of his mouth, all I could think was that he had [pause and smile] written on the teleprompter. So weird.

22) To be fair Russ, medication and technology are more advanced now....and he's only had cancer 4 times.

23) Stuttering doesn't bother me. Seeming unintelligent and unable to answer questions when you are trying to sell yourself as a qualified candidate for America's #2 is unacceptable. Like Russ said, Charles Gibson looked much more qualified than Palin.

Charles Gibson 2012!!!

24) Ha, "only had cancer 4 times." That's classic, Hayley. Good one!

25) Again with the mainstream liberal media? Again, Rick, look at Fox News. I just proved that it goes both ways. That term is laughable and ineffective and is only used when a conservative is trying to prove a point but has nothing substantive to say.

26) I agree, Haley and soundchick, about the "mainstream liberal media" crap. Honestly, that mainstream liberal media spent the last several years just repeating whatever line of BS that emanated from the white house and they have been in love with (and still are) John McCain. It goes both ways MUCH of the time!
RM, just when you begin to you sound like you're actually trying to have a REAL conversation, you spout out one of your thoughtless, Beancounter-like one-liners.

27) Ha....good point, Hayley! He's still a year and a half under the average male American life expectancy, so we should be fine. :)

28) Don't worry Courtney, there are many of us who do not think we can handle one day of Obama.

29) You'll live, BeanCounter. I've put up with you for this long.

30) The only thing I worry about with obama is the quality of life that all of are going to end up with, and the quality of education your children are going to have when they are turned out of an Obama Education System. You should realize that Obama is going to do two things: 1. Appease our enemies and 2. Raise our taxes to pay for less Defense Budget and more Welfare and Boon Doggle Spending to crete jobs that will handled by incompetent people.

31) What does Obama want to do with the education system that bothers you, Bean. Please site facts instead of talking points or made up accusations.

32) Right Bean, cause No Child Left Behind was been a fantastic success. We need to change education because Bush has done such wonders with it.

And I think you forgot the words "life" and "us" in there. Words are good, they help you make sense.

33) Obama wants to and will take Public Education down to levels like those that occured after Brown vs. Board of Education. In other words, he wants to dummy down what is taught and learned by students in future. The level of learning taught in the Public Schools now is autrocius.

34) Irony = "Defens Budget" and "incompetent people" in the same sentence.

I can see how an Obama Education System would frighten you, Bean.

35) Totally choked on my beverage.

36) he he he, courtney!

37) The only thing wrong with No Child Left Behind was that the law had to included all students, rather than only the children that were capable of being educated.

38) I love Humzoo!

39) So in other words, No Child Left Behind would have been much better if it had left some children behind?

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

40) I was going to say just that Dave! You took the words right out of my mouth.

41) My belief in Public Education has suffered a great deal, when you see that students do not know: Where Saigon is for example. The Math and English Scores on Standardised Tests are deplorable because the States have dummied down their curriculum so every student can pass. The only good true students in the Public Schools today are those that take A/P Courses.

42) A good example of what I meant is: In a neighboring county there was a four year that had the IQ 30, and the county was required to hire a teacher and other support staff to support this child.

43) "...and several years later, with the aid of the extra staff and the disposal of all the resources available to the school, this young student was able to grow up and communicate with others on the internet via comments. The end."

44) Wow, he hates children too!

45) Dude. Nuh. Uh. That right there. That's why I married you.

Also, whenever I hear about NCLB, I laugh about the time someone called Dave at his previous job asking about a "No Child Left Unturned" letter. There's a mental image there I just can't get out of my head.

46) Oh, Dave!

47) ha ha Dave...Just for that one, I'm buying you a Mountain Dew

48) I'm still laughing...

49) So...mentally challenged children should, what? Be institutionalized? Be kept chained in a basement?

I don't think either the Republicans OR the Democrats subscribe to the No Genius Left Behind doctrine, but hey, I could be wrong. After all, not *every* course I took was an AP course. I wasn't good enough at science to make it into an honors Chemistry class. Guess I was an idiot!

50) BeanCounter, I have to admit, this latest statement against special needs children does not follow your pattern. Generally, you speak out against anyone who is not like you or does not aspire to be just like you. You are very obvious in your preference for older white guys who love sports and North Carolina. But you have admitted to being dyslexic and bi-polar before. These are very real concerns that some children also face. Should we not educate them because they can't learn the same way other kids do? Where do you draw the line on extra resources for helping children meet educational standards? Should we just throw them in a regular classroom and let them sink or float? How do you think the country would be several years down the road if we didn't put all of our resources into providing the best education possible for every single child? What would we do with all of these uneducated special needs people when they grow up?

I just thought that with the challenges you face daily, you wouldn't be so against special education.

51) Sorry, just got back from picking up the Kashi stuff......

Anyway, yes, I will stand by my mainstream liberal media claim. Why would ABC cut off the first part of her statement concerning the "God" comment unless they wanted it to appear as something else?

52) Rick, were they stocked?!

53) In Obama's defense: His latest statement on public education stated that we need to hold teachers to a higher standard. Does that imply getting rid of the bad ones? Who is to judge the good ones from the bad ones? If he is pushed on this I bet he wont say that teachers should be removed.

The one thing about public education that still baffles me is that the democrats do not support vouchers. With vouchers the kids can go to a better private school. It would be in the poorer students best interest. I can only conclude that the teachers unions wont stand for this and thus the dems dont want to tick off the teachers in fear of losing votes; at the peril of the kids.

54) Hayley,

Yes, I got the dark chocolate chip cookies, some type of cereal and 2 boxes of honey granola bars.

Plus the $5 coupon......

55) shoot. what is wrong with the target's here. i'm going to blame the foreigners. how's that for politically correct? :) must be because i had a college prep class for math instead of honors/AP. Dang.

56) This thread alone is worth the Humdinger membership. I may even buy an extra one for good measure! :)

RickMonday...You missed a large chunk of the conversation while you were away on your Kashi trip. Getting back to Palin, see my question back at comment #20?

57) I was going to post a comment, but I wanted to start my own blog entry about this. http://www.humzoo.com/fritz/blog/37/

58) Oh, and another thing. You said that standardized tests scores are deplorable because the schools dumb their curriculum down so students can pass. Wouldn't that make standardized test scores, for better or for worse, at acceptable levels?

59) I think Beano also wanted to include "black children should be left behind" but maybe he was finally too embarrassed to admit how silly that sounds.

As for the ridiculous/thoughtless/hurtful/rude/disgusting comments you spewed about the child with special needs, do your f**king homework. As Scott questioned you, what is the alternative... institutions? Well guess what? Hiring an "extra" teacher costs pennies of tax payers' money compared to the costs of institutionalizing. Besides, that's so 1970's. Have you ever heard of progress?

Lastly, you should be the last person on here to be discussing some else's IQ level. Seriously. Last I checked, counting beans isn't part of the test.

60) I can't believe we're arguing this subject with a guy who cannot complete a complete sentence without misspelled words and deplorable grammar.

Rick, back to your comment 51: I don't know the exact comment you are referring to in the Palin interview, I only saw parts of it. However, go to almost any Fox News story and you get a slanted view, every time. Explain to me why it is ok for that news source to do so, but not another.

61) RM, vouchers are actually not good for low-income students. They don't get rid of the gap. There are so many problems with them. Middle and upper class families will simply be able to subsidize their incomes with the vouchers, and go to nicer schools. Lower-income families will be able to use the voucher and that's it.
Private schools can be selective about whom they let in. Also, there will just be nice private schools and not-so-nice private schools, same as there are with public schools now.
Not to mention the issue of money and transportation.
I really do think the current education system needs an overhaul; however, voucher systems simply aren't the save-all people make them out to be.
I've said it before, but I really think we need to hold teachers accountable to the right people--their students, and individuals, not an entire school.
I won't even reply to Bean. He's proven his ignorance on the public education system over and over again.

62) Mrs Shoo,

I think we should just agree to disagree on the voucher issue, unless you want to start another thread on it. You make some good points that I have a lot of thoughts on but need more time to write a lengthy response.


Russ (nice name by the way, its mine too and freaks me out whenever I see it on here) regarding your question 20: Do I think Palin is ready today to be the President.

Well, no one is really 100% ready from day 1, except maybe Hillary. Plus, you have to remember that Presidents choose a cabinet and advisors with expertise in several areas. So, does it really matter if someone know the details of a particular subject? I dont think so.
Bill Gates knows nothing about industrial supplies, would he make a good CEO for 3M. I think he would.

To me, you have to look at the makeup of a person. What are their core beliefs? Are they honest, trustworthy and able to do the right thing in a crisis. We never know what is going to pop up so you have to look at their mettle.

So to give you a long winded answer, yes. I believe that she has those qualities in her. Does she know all of the doctrines or foreign leaders on a personal basis? No. But does she have what it takes to deal with them? Yes.

63) RM, I tried to keep my response clipped (yes, that's clipped) for that exact reason. Fritz has written a blog on it (among other things): http://www.humzoo.com/fritz/blog/37/

I've read quite about of literature on vouchers, and I've seen the pros and cons. I'm going to assume neither of us will change our minds, as I think we probably both have good reasons for our opinions. So, agree to disagree sounds lovely.

64) I think the interview is airing ion 20/20 tonight.

65) These blogs are always and education for me.

66) You have to see this video at http://www.eyeblast.tv/Public/Video.aspx?rsrcID=2036

I just saw it and it blew me away!!!!

67) What did you think about it?

68) B, I'll give you about 15 minutes to reply to this comment before I delete all the spam you posted tonight. One link to a video is fine, a couple is ok. But you went totally overboard. Humzoo doesn't put up with spam of any sort, so please explain why you thought it was cool to post that so many times.

69) I just wanted to hear people out to see what they think of it all. I got impatient.. sorry. Just curious

70) You're welcome to create your own blog and post links and whatever you want - that's the acceptable way to communicate with a mass audience.

71) Thanks, Dave.