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Sarah Palin And Polls: All Time High Unfavorability!

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Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has reached an all time high unfavorable rating in the USA Today and CNN polls, after her disastrous reaction to the Tucson shootings and her use of the term “blood libel”, which has outraged the Jewish community and intelligent people everywhere.

The USA Today poll puts her negative ratings at 53 percent, and the CNN poll at 56 percent.

Sarah made clear on the Sean Hannity show on Fox News Channel that she would “not sit down and shut up”, and certainly there is no way to make that happen, and no one wants to take away her freedom of speech.

But, effectively, the American public is saying precisely that: Please sit down and shut up!

Since she will just do exactly the opposite, she is a gift that keeps on giving to the Democrats and President Obama, and is a burden on the GOP and the Presidential race!

Sarah Palin, Barbara Bush, And North Korea! How Can Anyone Take Sarah Seriously? :(

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Sarah Palin lashed out today at former First Lady Barbara Bush for suggesting that Sarah should stay in Alaska, during the interview conducted by Larry King on CNN with the first President Bush and his wife.

Calling them “blue bloods” who were “immature”, “inefficient”, and “unprofessional”, she said the American people did not want the Republican Party dictating who they should support! One has to wonder what she meant by the terms described above, as it is all very unclear, as she is on a regular basis! 🙁

But even worse than her reaction to Barbara Bush is Sarah Palin’s reaction to the threatened war between North and South Korea. Does not a President or a Presidential candidate need to know the basics of international relations, such as North Korea is the Communist nation that is the threat, and South Korea is our ally and a democratic nation? According to Sarah, we must back our ally, NORTH KOREA! 🙁

Is that an acceptable flub? Absolutely NO, and is further proof, along with her inane comments about “blue bloods” and Barbara Bush, that it is time for Sarah to bow out of the Presidential race before she becomes the laughing stock of the country, which actually, in many ways, she already is! 🙁

National Public Radio Wrong To Fire Juan Williams Over Fears Of Muslim Garb On Airplanes! :(

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Political commentator Juan Williams, who has long been involved in the civil rights community with his writings and work on African American history, has just been fired by National Public Radio for expressing his views about Islamic clothing.

Williams said on the Bill O’Reilly show on Fox News Channel that he is not prejudiced against the Islamic faith, but that it strikes fear in his heart when he sees people in full Islamic clothing on airplanes, as it brings back memories of September 11, 2001.

Such a statement is purely freedom of speech; it is not expressing anti Islamic hatred, as many others have done.

It is a common thought of many Americans because of the events of September 11, as it makes many Americans uncomfortable.

It is not stating that Muslims should not be free to wear such garb. It is just an opinion and expression of a fear which is quite common.

Juan Williams is a quality journalist, and firing him is unjustified! It does not make NPR look very good, as it is stifling freedom of speech!

This is not the same as Rick Sanchez being fired by CNN for his anti Semitic comments about Jews in the media, and perceived discrimination against Hispanics in the media, including himself!

If one is a journalist, and cannot express his thoughts in a non hateful way on a cable or television or radio channel without fear of losing his job, then we have really become a nation where civil liberties itself is under attack!

And since NPR has a reputation as a “liberal” or “progressive” channel, it is especially reprehensible to be seen as intolerant, and lacking an open mind to allow a diversity of opinion!

NPR has done the wrong thing, and it should reverse itself and rehire Juan Williams, and recognize what he is: a quality journalist who deserves respect for his non hateful opinions!

The CNN Top 100 House Races In Play!

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CNN has come up with a list of 100 House of Representatives seats that the network believes are in play in this fall’s election!

The list includes 90 Democratic held seats, with 15 of them being open seats, while 10 seats are held by Republicans, with 4 of them being open seats!

50 seats are thought to be most vulnerable, while 50 seats are races to watch! Four Republican seats are seen as most vulnerable, which if all went Democratic, would require the GOP to gain 43 Democratic seats instead of 39, in order to control the chamber. Of course, if all ten GOP seats were to switch, it would require 49 seats to be gained by the Republicans from the Democrats in order to gain control of the House.

More than normal interest in the House of Representatives exists because it could create a dramatic change in Congress if that chamber went Republican, while the Senate remained Democratic, which seems at this point more and more likely!

Never has the House of Representatives switched over without the Senate also switching, so this would be an historic election were it to happen!

Former Vice President Walter Mondale In Memoir: Proud To Call Himself A Liberal!

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Former Vice President Walter Mondale, who was influential in shaping the growth of that office while serving under President Jimmy Carter from 1977-1981, has just published his memoir, THE GOOD FIGHT: A LIFE IN LIBERAL POLITICS, at a time when he is nearing 83 years of age in January, which also marks 30 years since he and Carter left the White House!

Carter and Mondale have already set a record for the longest joint retirement of a President and Vice President!

Mondale made the Vice Presidency a very significant office, with the cooperation of President Carter, who had him share in all decisions and did not see Mondale as a threat to his own ego!

Mondale went on to run for President against President Ronald Reagan in 1984, and told the truth when he said he would have to raise taxes, and so would Reagan. He was truthful, and Reagan misled, as taxes did indeed go up in 1986!

Mondale also chose the first woman candidate for Vice President, Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro of New York!

Although Mondale lost the race to Reagan in a landslide, winning only Minnesota, his home state, and Washington, DC, he went on to serve with distinction as Ambassador to Japan under President Bill Clinton!

Mondale, in an interview on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, stated that he was proud to call himself a liberal in the 1960s and 1970s, when he served with distinction in the US Senate, and he still is proud to say that today!

In that, the author joins him, as it is liberal and progressive ideas that brought about all of the great political, social and economic reforms in the 20th century, and now, in the early part of the 21st century! 🙂

Former Presidents, And Selective Memory Of Critics, Scholars, And Public Opinion!

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Being President of the United States means glory and fame and being never forgotten in history, but it also includes bitter attacks, criticism, and a negative reputation in the minds of many critics, scholars and public opinion!

There is something about the passage of time that often soothes bad feelings and helps to restore a positive image of a President who has been under constant scrutiny! While a President may often leave office with a low public opinion rating and be seen as a disappointment or failure by many, over time he may be perceived in a very different light!

Such is the case with former President Bill Clinton and members of the Republican party who were his harshest critics, went after him in a vicious way for eight years, moved to impeach him for his private indiscretions, and used him until recently as a political issue against Democrats!

Now, many Republicans are praising Clinton, calling him a better President than Barack Obama, a moderate who benefited the nation, a compassionate conservative who was willing to negotiate with and work with the opposition party, once his own party lost control of Congress in 1994!

Another example of selective memory and how time heals wounds is that a CNN poll shows George W. Bush only two points behind Barack Obama on a question as to who is the better President! Obama leads 47-45, while last year he led by 23 points!

There is obviously a tendency for the negative emotional feelings that develop during the term of office of a President to dissipate over time, indeed sometimes within just a short span of time!

But it also shows that a thorough, balanced analysis of any Presidential administration takes inordinate amounts of time to accomplish–decades, generations, maybe even centuries!

After all, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln and other Presidents before the 20th century are still being researched and evaluated, with no final judgment that cannot be challenged by new evidence!

The Reality Of Illegal Immigration: They Fulfill Jobs No One Else Will Take!

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With much of the Arizona Immigration law on hold with the injunction by a federal judge, it is time for everyone to recognize the reality on the subject!

What is that reality? While no one wants to promote illegal immigration, and there is no doubt that it is a problem in regards to security, the reality is that illegals fulfill many job roles that no Americans will take!

A report on CNN was very revealing about this. Who do we think picks our fruits and vegetables in the fields of California? Illegal immigrants, who are paid eight dollars an hour and do back breaking work that no Americans have applied for, are those who do this, and without them, we would not have our fruits and vegetables!

Who is the majority of people working on lawn care, cleaning houses, working in hotels and motels on room service, working as dishwashers and busboys in restaurants, and many other low wage jobs that Americans run away from for employment? Illegal immigrants do these jobs, and without them, we would not have these various services done for millions of Americans!

Maybe the problem is that too many Americans are too fickle and picky about work they will accept, so maybe the work ethic is at issue!

But until there is widespread acceptance by Americans of these kinds of work, illegal immigrants will do what they have to do to survive, with the vast majority of them hard working, sacrificing for their children, paying taxes, being good law abiding people beyond the reality of how they came to this country!

Most are not drug runners, criminals, or involved in other unsavory activities, and it is unjust to label them all in the same negative description! Many are children who are here because of what their parents did, and now suffer the consequences as adults, but just want a chance to succeed in America!

We need more border security and policing, and the removal of illegal immigrants who are detriments to our society, but we cannot at this point deport millions of hard working people who actually contribute to our work life every day in ways most Americans do not appreciate!

So the nativists, who have always been against every immigrant group in America in the past, must be fought by decent Americans, not encouraged in ways that when we look back in the future, we will regret! 🙁

A Journalistic Legend Is Gone: Daniel Schorr, 1916-2010

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Just as I was leaving for my NYC vacation, the news came that journalistic legend Daniel Schorr had passed away at age 93!

Daniel Schorr was one of a rare breed of journalists that we are unlikely to see again in a field that has changed so much!

Schorr worked for the Christian Science Monitor for decades! He also reported for the NY Times until he went to CBS News as part of the great group of journalists who worked for Edward R. Murrow!

He became controversial during the administration of President Richard Nixon, deeply hated by the President, who put him on the “enemy list” for his open opposition to the Nixon policies and his investigation of Watergate!

He then worked for CNN, and after a few years, went to National Public Radio, where he worked until his death! The author had heard his commentary very recently, and wondered how long he had been serving as a journalist, checking it out as being over 60 amazing years!

Schorr spoke his mind, but it was based upon careful scholarly research, not just personal opinion! He was a walking history book, having been intimately involved in our politics through his coverage of presidents from Eisenhower to Obama!

He was the winner of three Emmys during the Watergate years, as well as a Peabody for a lifetime of reporting, and numerous other awards, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Society of Professional Journalists!

Daniel Schorr was a thought provoking and insightful journalist who gave pleasure to his listeners on many channels over the years, and he cannot be replaced, any more than Walter Cronkite, one of his colleagues at CBS, can be replaced!

Journalism will never be the same, but he left a legacy that will endure!

Eliot Spitzer And Kathleen Parker Team Up For New CNN Show In Fall!

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Former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer, who was forced out of office after 14 months due to a sex scandal, is now about to take on an hourly news program on CNN, cohosting it at 8 pm weekdays with Kathleen Parker, a 2010 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for the Washington Post, who defines herself as a “rational conservative”!

Spitzer had a dry run as a substitute talk show host for MSNBC, and proved to be very stimulating, and effective in arguing ideas and points with conservative guests! Parker is very articulate when she has appeared on cable shows, and it sounds like a great debate and point-counterpoint will develop between Spitzer and Parker, as well as their guests!

This could be another “Crossfire” type show, and it sounds as if CNN is attempting to challenge their tough opposition at 8 pm–Bill O’Reilly on Fox News Channel and Keith Olbermann on MSNBC! All for the better! 🙂

Kudos To Dr. Sanjay Gupta Of CNN For His Courage And Dedication To Duty!

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Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the Medical Correspondent for CNN, should be hailed and celebrated for his courage and dedication to duty in the Haitian Earthquake disaster.

UN doctors were told to leave because of security problems, leaving their patients, many of them just gone through surgery, absolutely without anyone to take care of them, except for Dr. Gupta, who was reporting the situation, and decided, with threat to himself certainly possible, to stay and tend to all of the patients overnight, going without sleep, but refusing to abandon the people who, without him, would have been left totally alone.

Dr. Gupta truly followed the Hippocratic Oath, while those UN doctors failed to meet their responsibilities, no matter what they were told to do. One should NEVER leave patients untended, but these men and women were unwilling to sacrifice possible danger to do their duty, while Dr. Gupta took his chances, but demonstrated just how much of a great professional and human being he is!