Sarah Palin

Here's the video of Sarah Palin's speech today after John McCain announced that she'd be his running mate. It gives a good idea of the kind of woman she is.

Thanks to Hot Air.

RLC

On the Job Training

Senator Obama's candidacy is historic, and we can all rejoice that the country has arrived at the place where someone like him can be nominated to run for the presidency. Even so, there is reason to be gravely skeptical that this particular candidate is the best man to pioneer the advance of minorities into the White House.

When one's political opponents say one is not ready to serve as president that can be dismissed as self-interested rhetoric. When one's own colleagues say one is not ready to be president it should give the electorate pause, but when the candidate himself says he's not ready to be president perhaps we should be very reluctant to see him ensconced in the Oval Office:

Senator Obama is correct in this clip. He has never run a business or a government, he has no military or foreign policy experience, his economic prescriptions seem untempered by practical experience, his past social associations and votes in the Illinois senate are not such as build confidence in his judgment, and his only demonstrated ability is in giving speeches off a teleprompter. He does do this exceedingly well as last night's acceptance speech demonstrated, but rhetorical grace is no substitute for a résumé.

John McCain could turn out to be a disaster, who knows? But as responsible voters we have the obligation to examine a candidate's qualifications and select the one who seems best prepared to do the job. It's quite likely that most of the people in your local chamber of commerce have a stronger set of qualifications than does Senator Obama.

HT: Hot Air

RLC

Liberal Fascism, Case in Point

A wealthy Texan by the name of Harold Simmons funded an ad which asks questions about Barack Obama's associations with unrepentant terrorist William Ayers. Now in a development that reveals something truly frightening about an Obama presidency, his lawyers are petitioning the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute Simmons and his organization, The American Issues Project.

Here's the ad that Simmons' group funded:

If the Obama people feel that Simmons has violated election laws why not take their complaint to the Federal Election Commission? By seeking an investigation by the Justice Department they're trying to use the Attorney General to intimidate political opponents and suppress political opposition. This is something that Democrats screamed about when they thought Nixon was doing it back in the late sixties.

If Obama wins in November will he be inclined to use his Attorney General as a political enforcer to silence his opponents and critics? He certainly gives us reason to think so by this move.

When Jonah Goldberg wrote that liberalism is a form of fascism he probably didn't expect Barack Obama to provide an illustration of the point.

RLC

McCain Picks Palin

John McCain has picked Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin has quite a story - she's a mother of five, the youngest of which is a Down's syndrome child that she and her husband chose to have rather than abort. She's a lifetime member of the NRA, a former high school basketball player, and has much more executive experience than either Senator Obama or Senator Biden. She's also been a relentless fighter against government corruption in Alaska.

Her acceptance speech today is worth watching. I'll post it as soon as it becomes available.

In the meantime, her selection raises two questions off the top of my head: Will Jacob Weisberg at Slate now write a column explaining how those who don't vote for McCain/Palin are sexist?

What will those critics of the use of American force who like to say that the politicians who send our young men to war have no personal stake in their actions say now? Both Republican candidates have sons in, or on the way, to Iraq. Neither of the Democrats have ever served or have family who has yet both of them support sending young men to fight and die. Obama promises to send more troops to Afghanistan and Biden voted for the war in Iraq.

This is turning into a fascinating election.

RLC