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RE: "I don't get much comment on my columns on the Vision"<BR>
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Nick, never see a lack of comments as a reason to stop posting! I, for one, look forward to your columns and have forwarded them on to family and friends on at least several occasions as a means of explaining how I feel about the same subjects but haven't put into words as eloquently as you. I also have been made to think about how I feel about subjects in a deeper light or saw other sides to issues that I wouldn't have considered than would have been possible if not for your columns.<BR>
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Hopefully, a lack of comments about your articles is an indication that most people either agree or are made to think without much to argue about what you have said, or they simply can't argue with the truth. Folks don't usually reply when they have learned vs. when you have struck a chord of difference. That's when you never hear the end of an issue!<BR>
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Thanks for what you do and keep'em coming!<BR>
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Don Edwards <BR>
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Message: 2<BR>Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2008 13:27:48 -0500<BR>From: <nickgier@roadrunner.com><BR>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] The Cowardly Character Assassination of<BR>Sarah Palin<BR>To: keely emerinemix <kjajmix1@msn.com><BR>Cc: vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Message-ID:<BR><1873666.330611226082468935.JavaMail.root@cdptpa-web07-z01><BR>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8<BR> <BR>Greetings:<BR> <BR>The media is involved in an in-depth post-election investigation, as it should be, and some people on the Vision believe that we ought not to do this. This, of course, is absurd.<BR> <BR>In the aftermath of Democratic defeats in 2000 and 2004 I wrote that Democrats made a huge mistake in being on the wrong side of the values debate. For example, I said that Democrats should be supporting, not rejecting, character education in our schools. Many Democrats in this election cycle heeded that advice and they were able to defuse values and religion issues on which the GOP had capitalized so successfully.<BR> <BR>Dan has posted a screed that praises Palin's character and virtue. One virtue is truth telling, and on at least two instances, Palin refused to tell the truth. She claimed that she sent back the "bridge to nowhere" money back to Washington, which of course is false. She also said that an Alaskan legislative investigation had cleared her in Troopergate, when it fact, by a unanimous vote, the Legislative Council approved a report that concluded that she had violated state ethics rules.<BR> <BR>I personally don't see a lot of character in proudly taking on a "pitbull" role and attacking Obama/Biden on a daily basis. The true test of character was Obama's refusal to return the insults. A defining moment on character was when Obama was asked in one of debates if Palin were qualified for president, and he said that the American people would decide that question.<BR> <BR>The people did indeed decide with polls showing that 60 percent of those polled saying that she was not qualified. which matched exit polls that showed that only 40 percent would support here in 2012. <BR> <BR>A true test of character for GOP leaders will be if they, too, realize, as many of them did privately and many conservatives did publicly, that Palin simply does not have what it takes for a national leadership position.<BR> <BR>Roger, early on I remember you apparently agreeing with a conservative spokesman that Palin was the wrong choice. It seems that you have now changed your mind. <BR> <BR>Roger, you say that Palin is intelligent, but after 40 years in Academe, I'm not so sure how one measures intelligence. After looking at my IQ number, my high school counselor advised me to take shop classes rather than the advanced AP classes in which I got straight As and graduated 4th in a class of 446.<BR> <BR>What is more important for me is how well informed a candidate is. On this count Palin showed her ignorance in spades. Not being able to name a single court case other than Roe v. Wade was emblematic of her utter lack of qualification for high office. My sincere hope is that with Obama's election that all Americans will now realize that ignorance is not a virtue.<BR> <BR>Candidates for high office must be open to the full public scrutiny. The fact that Palin refused to hold a news conference demonstrated that she was not ready for that. That was the cowardly act, not the questioning that everyone has the full right to do.<BR> <BR>I don't get much comment on my columns on the Vision, but the on-line comments from readers of the Idaho State Journal are many and hard hitting. (I get a little tired of the ad hominems against the "professor," as if being one was the lowest on God's great chain of being.) The only time these right-wing critics thought I had crossed the line was when I compared teenage pregnancy rates in Blue States vs. Red States, the latter have the much higher number. My critics charged that this was somehow an attack on Palin's daughter.<BR> <BR>In a previous column I had questioned the wisdom of pressing this distinction too hard, because we are mostly purple if you mix all the votes together (and even more so now). It was McCain/Palin, not Obama, who wanted to divide us along these lines. In that context I think that my mention of the Red State's relative lack of control of their daughters was a relevant point to make.<BR> <BR>I challenge anyone on this list to read all my election columns (www.home.roadrunner.com/~nickgier/Election08.htm) and tell me where I assassinated anyone's character.<BR> <BR>Yours for lively and necessary post-election analysis,<BR> <BR>Nick Gier<BR><br /><hr />Want to read Hotmail messages in Outlook? The Wordsmiths show you how. <a href='http://windowslive.com/connect/post/wedowindowslive.spaces.live.com-Blog-cns!20EE04FBC541789!167.entry?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_092008' target='_new'>Learn Now</a></body>
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