Journal pudge's Journal: Fareed Zakaria Says Barack Obama Should Step Down 7
Fareed Zakaria said today that we must have candidates for President and Vice President who know how to govern, who are capable of getting us through this financial crisis. He says we cannot have people who are "unqualified," who are merely "charismatic," who when pressed on the economy engage in "a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics" that come into their head.
He says such candidates should drop out. He is purporting to talk about Palin, but everything he says applies equally to Barack Obama.
Obama is pitifully ignorant when it comes to the economy. He is better, I agree, than Palin at memorizing talking points, but then again, he's had a lot more practice. But he has no more intelligence, knowledge, insight, or ability than Palin does.
Oh, and Zakaria -- who also likes to portray himself as something of an expert on foreign affairs -- also made light of Sarah Palin's experience with Russia. He says, "Two weeks ago I flew to Tokyo, crossing over the North Pole. Does that make me an expert on Santa Claus?" I don't know, Fareed, are you regularly briefed on military exercises involving Santa Claus? She never claimed to be an expert; she was asked about experience. She hinted at some of that experience, and it's not insignificant, and it's real. It's as real as any foreign experience Obama has: he had a summer vacation in Europe and met with some people.
What Zakaria is doing is both ignoring the fact of her actual experience, and then pretending she said something she never did. Terrible stuff.
What's really pathetic is that professionals like Zakaria who should know better have been sucked in by slickness. Obama is more slick, so therefore he's qualified. This is Zakaria's implicit message, and it doesn't speak well for him.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Cringe worthy? (Score:2)
Just out of curiosity, how do you see Palin's performance by herself in the interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric and with McCain in the new Couric interview?
As a supporter of McCain/Palin, how do those appear to you?
Do they inspire confidence?
I know how I see them, but I am not a supporter. I am curious how a supporter reads them.
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Do they inspire confidence?
I thought they were all just fine. Perfect? No. At LEAST as good as Obama? Significantly better. Obama is a blunderer who can't get through a sentence without interrupting himself and when he does get his words out either sounds like he's a bad standup comic stealing Seinfeld's routine ("What's with these Republicans? Can you believe these guys?") or else he just spews talking points.
McCain, on the other hand, shows a real understanding of the issues, as does Palin. As does Biden.
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Thanks for that.
It does help illustrate how differently these performances have been received by different groups.
You are the first person who has told me that she did fine and at least as good as Obama and I have asked friends and relatives who run the gamut from Obama to McCain supporters.
Most have said that her interviews haven't changed their support of her (whether they were for or against her candidacy), but the supporters said they still liked her even though she didn't come off as well in the interv
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Palin discussing her media influences with Couric. [youtube.com] Is it just out of context or is she not wanting to name specifics out of political concerns? To me, it comes off as odd.
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I couldn't care less. Especially since I don't regularly read a newspaper myself.
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You read magazines, though, and you read media online.
Why couldn't that have been the answer? It just seems odd.
If you had said, oh I read all of them or none of them, I would have called BS, because you cite stuff that you read in publications (online or otherwise) all the time.
That is why it seems odd. I would expect her to be able to handle such a softball question in a more definitive manner. To me, it comes off as weak and incurious.
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You read magazines, though
Not much anymore.
and you read media online.
Not specific sites.
Why couldn't that have been the answer? It just seems odd.
I think the question itself seemed odd. Who cares? I think most likely she just didn't want to say which ones, for obvious reason: such answers are hyperanalyzed.