Palin on Obama and the situation in Egypt...

This past weekend, Lisa Ling commented on Sarah Palin’s attack on President Obama’s stance on the wholesale unrest in Egypt by asking on Facebook, “Sarah, do you know where Egypt is?” This was followed by many opinions both for and against Sarah Palin. I listened to her interview, which in typical Palin fashion was mostly unintelligible.

This is a transcript, provided by the network, of Ms. Palin’s response to Mr. Brody’s question about how she believes the president has handled the situation in Egypt:

“And nobody yet has, nobody yet has explained to the American public what they know, and surely they know more than the rest of us know who it is who will be taking the place of Mubarak and no, not, not real enthused about what it is that that’s being done on a national level and from D.C. in regards to understanding all the situation there in Egypt. And, in these areas that are so volatile right now, because obviously it’s not just Egypt but the other countries too where we are seeing uprisings, we know that now more than ever, we need strength and sound mind there in the White House. We need to know what it is that America stands for so we know who it is that America will stand with. And, we do not have all that information yet.”

I proceeded to join the conversation by posting the following:

“Frankly, I do not believe that the success or failure of our country to pull itself out of our present situation depends on what type of government comes to power in Egypt. As a global leader, we will have to deal with whatever entity takes over in that country, and diplomacy is the name of the game. It is also a word that is not in Palin's vocabulary. Obviously, Sarah Palin has the same right to free speech as the rest of us. The thing that makes her version of free speech dangerous is that there are people out there that actually buy into anything she spouts. She is like a charismatic leader of a cult, feeding her followers the rhetoric they seem to live on. I find it frightening that such a huge number of people seem to think she's brilliant. She has not only never had an original idea, she can't string together an intelligible sentence! She has yet to fulfill a term of office to which she has been elected. When was the last time the governor of any state left office for a reason less serious than illness or a scandal that made it impossible for them to govern? Every time she quits an elected post, she violates the trust of the public that voted her into office. I think her followers should wake up and smell the coffee!

A rabid Palin supporter immediately went into attack mode. This included such gems as:

“Yes of course, you can say what you want that was my point. Even the dumb asses here have a right to respond so immaturely!” and

"But to constantly berate a strong willed woman, who leads, wants to do something for this country and could do a better job than most, not all. Still the fact that anyone would even want to take the challenge on."

"Seriously, she can't string together a intelligent sentence? My GOD your statements are completely ignorant!" and

"Issues! not childish junior high name calling" as well as:

“On the other hand Chris Rock was right. Early in the 2012 campaign, before Palin was in the picture, he joked that Hillary would never be elected president. Nor would any white woman be elected which was sad since white women are the majority in this nation - 52% right? But as Chris pointed out 'Who hates a white woman more than another white woman?' Sad, but that is exactly how you woman take on the issue of Sarah Palin - exactly - you make HER the issue and instead ignore the real solutions and the real issues.” Then there’s:

“If she REALLY WAS stupid, a clown, etc...etc... then she would have faded away by now. The fact is that she had more women rallying for her than any other candidate. She is a REAL mother and career woman.”

I responded to this claptrap with a restatement of my original post, including lengthy explanations of each point, backing the validity of my statements. After a few more exchanges, I posted the following:

"You write that the U.S. stands for freedom and has interests in many parts of the world as though the very idea of it was sprung from Ms. Palin's loins. I have to tell you, that statement or something quite similar has been made by every political figure in this country since WW1. Just because she has stated the obvious, and it is something that every in this country agrees with, doesn't make it a reason for me to consider her to be qualified to be in the political spotlight or to hold national office."

His response to that was:

“She is more qualified than most of us simply because of all the heat she has taken over the past 2 years. The job dictates that.”

I finished off with:

I think that shouldering bad publicity does not qualify anyone for a run for president. Criticism comes with the territory, but having experience with criticism does not automatically qualify a person to make life and death decisions for 300 million Americans."

Then I gave up and went downstairs to watch the Super Bowl. At least there was a clear winner and a clear loser in that argument!

Super Bowl hosts horrid rendition of the National Anthem...

I saw an article the other day about the "10 Worst Renditions of the National Anthem" and was surprised that Macy Gray didn't make the list. Not only was her performance at the Hall of Fame game lousy, but she actually did not know the words! A similar event occurred tonight at the Super Bowl, where Christina Aguilera made it up as she went along. I can only say I'm sorry that the dome wasn't open so that the fly over could have drowned out her sour notes, over-affected style, and lack of the correct lyrics.

And before anyone says "Well, Betsy, singing the anthem is difficult and doing it in a stadium just isn't the same as singing it in your car," I will say that I haven't sung it in the Super Dome, but I have sung it at a stadium. If I can do it, then someone who makes millions singing should be able to do it. And they should darn well know the lyrics. It is disgraceful to get out there and sing our National Anthem incorrectly.

While we're on the subject of the Super Bowl, I give my most hearty congratulations to the Green Bay Packers. You've just become one of my favorite teams. I may be a Browns fan, but I will root my heart out for anyone who can stick it to the Steelers! You gave me a few minutes of worry there at the end, but you prevailed and that is what counts. Way to go, Packers!