Thread: Obama going down in flames, Palin wins the debate

As James Tatano puts it on the WSJ Opinion Journal site



Palin Wins

If she's dim and Obama is brilliant, how did he lose the argument to her?



President Obama himself took the comments of the former governor of the 47th-largest state seriously enough to answer them directly in his so-called town-hall meeting Tuesday in Portsmouth, N.H. As we noted Wednesday, he was callous rather than reassuring, speaking glibly--to audience laughter--about "pulling the plug on grandma."



The Los Angeles Times reports that Palin has won a legislative victory as well:



A Senate panel has decided to scrap the part of its healthcare bill that in recent days has given rise to fears of government "death panels," with one lawmaker suggesting the proposal was just too confusing.



The Senate Finance Committee is taking the idea of advance care planning consultations with doctors off the table as it works to craft its version of healthcare legislation, a Democratic committee aide said Thursday.



Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the committee, said the panel dropped the idea because it could be "misinterpreted or implemented incorrectly." . . .



The Palin claim about "death panels" was so widely discredited that the White House has begun openly quoting it in an effort to show that opponents of the healthcare overhaul are misinformed.



You have to love that last bit. The fearless, independent journalists of the Los Angeles Times justify their assertion that the Palin claim was "widely discredited" with an appeal to authority--the authority of the White House, which is to say, the other side in the debate. One suspects the breathtaking inadequacy of this argument would have been obvious to Times reporters Christi Parsons and Andrew Zajac if George W. Bush were still president. And of course this appears in a story about how the Senate was persuaded to act in accord with Palin's position--which doesn't prove that position right but does show that it is widely (though, to be sure, not universally) credited............



If you believe the media, Sarah Palin is a mediocre intellect, if even that, while President Obama is brilliant. So how did she manage to best him in this debate? Part of the explanation is that disdain for Palin reflects intellectual snobbery more than actual intellect. Still, Obama's critics, in contrast with Palin's, do not deny the president's intellectual aptitude. Intelligence, however, does not make one immune from hubris.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...852801602.html

[quote name='Stinger' date='16 August 2009 - 09:33 PM' timestamp='1250472798' post='6234']

As James Tatano puts it on the WSJ Opinion Journal site



Palin Wins

If she's dim and Obama is brilliant, how did he lose the argument to her?



President Obama himself took the comments of the former governor of the 47th-largest state seriously enough to answer them directly in his so-called town-hall meeting Tuesday in Portsmouth, N.H. As we noted Wednesday, he was callous rather than reassuring, speaking glibly--to audience laughter--about "pulling the plug on grandma."



The Los Angeles Times reports that Palin has won a legislative victory as well:



A Senate panel has decided to scrap the part of its healthcare bill that in recent days has given rise to fears of government "death panels," with one lawmaker suggesting the proposal was just too confusing.



The Senate Finance Committee is taking the idea of advance care planning consultations with doctors off the table as it works to craft its version of healthcare legislation, a Democratic committee aide said Thursday.



Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the committee, said the panel dropped the idea because it could be "misinterpreted or implemented incorrectly." . . .



The Palin claim about "death panels" was so widely discredited that the White House has begun openly quoting it in an effort to show that opponents of the healthcare overhaul are misinformed.



You have to love that last bit. The fearless, independent journalists of the Los Angeles Times justify their assertion that the Palin claim was "widely discredited" with an appeal to authority--the authority of the White House, which is to say, the other side in the debate. One suspects the breathtaking inadequacy of this argument would have been obvious to Times reporters Christi Parsons and Andrew Zajac if George W. Bush were still president. And of course this appears in a story about how the Senate was persuaded to act in accord with Palin's position--which doesn't prove that position right but does show that it is widely (though, to be sure, not universally) credited............



If you believe the media, Sarah Palin is a mediocre intellect, if even that, while President Obama is brilliant. So how did she manage to best him in this debate? Part of the explanation is that disdain for Palin reflects intellectual snobbery more than actual intellect. Still, Obama's critics, in contrast with Palin's, do not deny the president's intellectual aptitude. Intelligence, however, does not make one immune from hubris.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...852801602.html

[/quote]



Sarah Palin and the rest are very convincing liars. That is, when speaking to people who are desperate to believe those lies.



SP isn't smart, it's just that her audience is just dumber than she is. I wouldn't be bragging about it if I were you.

[quote name='nickcuse' date='16 August 2009 - 08:54 PM' timestamp='1250474086' post='6251']

unless the white house admitted that palins claims were correct, she didn't win anything.

[/quote]



She won the debate and proved her point, Congress has shelved it on Obama.

If you believe the media, Sarah Palin is a mediocre intellect, if even that

I don't believe the media. They are giving her too much credit.

[quote name='Blueneck' date='16 August 2009 - 09:05 PM' timestamp='1250474707' post='6264']

Sarah Palin and the rest are very convincing liars. That is, when speaking to people who are desperate to believe those lies.



SP isn't smart, it's just that her audience is just dumber than she is. I wouldn't be bragging about it if I were you.

[/quote]



Except she isn't the one who was lying, she made the case and the Congress could not deny it. And insulting the majority of the American people because they were smarter than those who denied the facts about Obama's scheme doesn't gain your side much support.

[quote name='Stinger' date='16 August 2009 - 10:05 PM' timestamp='1250474717' post='6265']

She won the debate and proved her point, Congress has shelved it on Obama.

[/quote]



So the death panel is no more?

[quote name='Bluegrass' date='16 August 2009 - 09:06 PM' timestamp='1250474807' post='6268']

I don't believe the media. They are giving her too much credit.

[/quote]



And Obama lost the intellectual debate against her, so where does that put him? She refuted his claims with the facts, she won on the merit of her argument.

[quote name='Bluegrass' date='16 August 2009 - 09:07 PM' timestamp='1250474842' post='6272']

So the death panel is no more?

[/quote]



You did not read the OP?