from today's SLATE on-line news summary: > In recent days, several pieces of information have come out that dispute > McCain's description of Palin as a government reformer who has "stopped > government from wasting taxpayers' money." But perhaps none of it is as > damaging as a story in today's LA [TIMES] because it turns out that McCain > himself criticized some earmarks that Palin's small Alaska town received > while she was mayor. In "pork lists" that the senator has published to call > attention to wasteful government spending, McCain has included earmarks for > Wasilla, Alaska, as "objectionable" three times in recent years. Palin was > far from embarrassed about these earmarks, as she defended the practice in a > newspaper column. And although McCain's campaign is trying to say that Palin > had no choice but to work within a broken system, the LAT couldn't be > clearer: "Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor."
> It turns out Palin brought more than just earmarks to her town of less than > 7,000 people when she became mayor. In a profile that describes Palin's rise > in small-town politics, the NY [TIMES] says political campaigns used to be a > low-key affair before Palin got involved and began talking about wedge issues > such as abortion and gun rights. Once she did become mayor, she raised the > idea of possibly banning some books from the library, an idea that never got > anywhere. Also, when she took office, she cleaned house and asked many who > had supported her opponent to resign, a practice that was "virtually unheard > of in Wasilla in past elections," says the NYT. >By now, it's hardly a secret that at least part of the reason behind Palin's >selection was a desire to appeal to the party's traditional conservative base. >By all accounts, religious conservatives are happy with the choice, but this >is hardly the first thing McCain has done to woo these voters, details the >NYT. McCain has scrapped the idea of changing the Republican platform on >abortion and has said that a fetus gains human rights "at the moment of >conception." In his attempts to appeal to these voters, McCain "has in some >ways gone further than Bush," says the NYT, and some have characterized this >year's platform as the most conservative in the party's history.< and a note on the Republican Party's appeal: >The [Washington POST's] Harold Meyerson looked through the Republican >Convention schedule and couldn't find "a single forum, workshop or >kaffeklatsch" devoted to dealing with current economic problems. After the >diversity of delegates that was on display in Denver, the GOP convention "is >almost shockingly—un-Americanly—white." This will certainly signify long-term >challenges for the future of the party. "This year, however, whiteness is the >only way Republicans cling to power," writes Meyerson. "If the election is >about the economy, they're cooked—and their silence this week on nearly all >things economic means that they know it."< -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
