[Gerben42]

Somehow this says more about some college degrees than of the candidates. How do potential employers evaluate college degrees? I wouldn't want to hire someone who bought their college degree, I would want to hire someone who earned it.

[han]

jtfanclub, on Nov 6 2008, 12:08 PM, said:

I'm sure her skills at English and math are just fine.

What does "just fine" mean for a vice president and why do you think Palin's skills satisfy your conditions?

[Lobowolf]

At a minimum, a Vice President should have a solid understanding of integral calculus, and be comfortable using a slide rule.

[jdonn]

jtfanclub, on Nov 6 2008, 12:08 PM, said:

BTW, I don't think it's all that odd. South Africa is a country. Why would it shock people if there was a place bordering Liberia who called itself West Africa?

It wouldn't shock people. WHEN THEY ARE 10 YEARS OLD LEARNING THAT IT'S NOT TRUE.

[jtfanclub]

han, on Nov 6 2008, 02:22 PM, said:

jtfanclub, on Nov 6 2008, 12:08 PM, said:

I'm sure her skills at English and math are just fine.

What does "just fine" mean for a vice president and why do you think Palin's skills satisfy your conditions?

Just fine for somebody graduating with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. For Jdonn, the country names keep changing on me. Tough to be certain that there is no country named, say, Guinea Bisseau. Oh, wait, bad example. Palin simply doesn't care about the rest of the world, including over half of the United States. I doubt she could name the states that are on the Atlantic without looking at a map. But within her own realm, I have no evidence that she's ignorant or incompetent.

In other words, I don't think she's an embarrassment to the University of Idaho or the community colleges where she got half of her credits. Just not somebody I want in a Federal office.

[matmat]

han, on Nov 6 2008, 02:22 PM, said:

jtfanclub, on Nov 6 2008, 12:08 PM, said:

I'm sure her skills at English and math are just fine.

What does "just fine" mean for a vice president and why do you think Palin's skills satisfy your conditions?

his definition of fine:
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=XbQwAFobQxQ

[jdonn]

jtfanclub, on Nov 6 2008, 04:55 PM, said:

For Jdonn, the country names keep changing on me.

This is your excuse for thinking it's ok to believe a country that has never existed does exist? Really?

[han]

Lobowolf, on Nov 6 2008, 02:37 PM, said:

At a minimum, a Vice President should have a solid understanding of integral calculus, and be comfortable using a slide rule.

Why on earth should a VP need to know about integral calculus?

[luke warm]

jdonn, on Nov 6 2008, 02:41 PM, said:

jtfanclub, on Nov 6 2008, 12:08 PM, said:

BTW, I don't think it's all that odd.  South Africa is a country.  Why would it shock people if there was a place bordering Liberia who called itself West Africa?

It wouldn't shock people. WHEN THEY ARE 10 YEARS OLD LEARNING THAT IT'S NOT TRUE.

do you feel the same way about the many gaffes biden has made and continues to make? true, a non-existent diner (that he lied about frequenting) or the wrong decade for tv or ww1, etc etc are't the same as an existing continent, but biden hasn't been what i'd call a towering intellect... oh that's right, "that's just joe"

[han]

Honestly, given how many nonsensical sentences came out of her mouth in her interviews, I wasn't worried at all about whether she could compute the area of a volume of rotation.

[han]

I don't know so much about Biden, but I never thought of him as a towering intellect or even an inspiring VP. Did anybody here think otherwise?

[Lobowolf]

Was Biden running for something, too?

Edit: ok, that's a joke. My perception of Biden improved over the course of the campaign. However, I think Luke makes a valid point: The guy came under just about NO mainstream scrutiny (and had more than a few questionable things to say). Having said that, I think he's a good guy who fills some gaps in Obama's resume.

[kenberg]

han, on Nov 6 2008, 06:00 PM, said:

Lobowolf, on Nov 6 2008, 02:37 PM, said:

At a minimum, a Vice President should have a solid understanding of integral calculus, and be comfortable using a slide rule.

Why on earth should a VP need to know about integral calculus?

I think the Wolf was funning around a bit here!

Some of us grew up in less than intellectual surroundings. When I was in college some friends asked if I wanted to go with them to see tha Monet exhibit. Who's Monet, I asked. For years after that whenever someone said something particularly stupid someone would bring up "Who's Monet". I still have largely preserved precious areas of ignorance. For example I had to go to the Internet to find out who the Rays were. This gives me a feeling of comradeship for some folks. When one of the Washington scandals broke out, one of the players wanted to meet with the gal to shut her up and suggested that they meet at the East Wing of the National Gallery. Where's that, she asked. I found myself beginning to like her.


See Born Yesterday (the Judy Holliday version, 1950, please)

[helene_t]

han, on Nov 7 2008, 12:00 AM, said:

Lobowolf, on Nov 6 2008, 02:37 PM, said:

At a minimum, a Vice President should have a solid understanding of integral calculus, and be comfortable using a slide rule.

Why on earth should a VP need to know about integral calculus?

Lol, I would have expected you to be able to catch an ironic remark from someone else, Han.

[hrothgar]

Lobowolf, on Nov 7 2008, 02:26 AM, said:

Was Biden running for something, too?

Edit: ok, that's a joke.  My perception of Biden improved over the course of the campaign.  However, I think Luke makes a valid point: The guy came under just about NO mainstream scrutiny (and had more than a few questionable things to say).  Having said that, I think he's a good guy who fills some gaps in Obama's resume.

There's very good reason why Palin came under more scrutiny than Biden.

Biden is a known quantity. He's served in the Senate for 36 years. His positions and his qualifications are pretty well known.

Do I consider him a towering intellect? Probably not... (I do believe that Obama qualifies as such btw)

Do I believe that Biden is gaff prone? Absolutely... However, I also think that he's experienced and competent.

The reason that the media was all over Palin is that she was a near complete unknown. The McCain campaign certainly didn't bother with any kind of vetting. It was entirely appropriate for the media to do so. (Honestly, I think that they went pretty easy on her)

[Lobowolf]

hrothgar, on Nov 6 2008, 06:34 PM, said:

There's very good reason why Palin came under more scrutiny than Biden.

Biden is a known quantity. He's served in the Senate for 36 years. His positions and his qualifications are pretty well known.

That's one reason, and I think it's a valid one.

Another reason that I think is valid is that the members of the media favored Obama by far more than the 52-46 margin that the country-at-large favored him by.

[jdonn]

Lobowolf, on Nov 6 2008, 06:53 PM, said:

hrothgar, on Nov 6 2008, 06:34 PM, said:

There's very good reason why Palin came under more scrutiny than Biden.

Biden is a known quantity.  He's served in the Senate for 36 years.  His positions and his qualifications are pretty well known.

That's one reason, and I think it's a valid one.

Another reason that I think is valid is that the members of the media favored Obama by far more than the 52-46 margin that the country-at-large favored him by.

The media reports what people want to see. If the media favored someone, it's a reflection of what brought them ratings.

Not that a Republican would ever say the media didn't treat the other side much better...

[hrothgar]

Lobowolf, on Nov 7 2008, 02:53 AM, said:

hrothgar, on Nov 6 2008, 06:34 PM, said:

There's very good reason why Palin came under more scrutiny than Biden.

Biden is a known quantity.  He's served in the Senate for 36 years.  His positions and his qualifications are pretty well known.

That's one reason, and I think it's a valid one.

Another reason that I think is valid is that the members of the media favored Obama by far more than the 52-46 margin that the country-at-large favored him by.

So, how do you explain Fox, the Wall Street Journal, Drudge, and the rest of the echo chamber?

Fox News is, for all intents and purposes, a propaganda wing of the Republican Party. I don't recall that they launched any killer exposes regarding Biden... Yes, they covered Biden's gaffes (as did NBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and most everyone else). If there was any real dirt, I suspect that someone would have found it. (They were certainly happy enough to manufacture a bunch of ridiculous accusations about Obama)

You might enjoy your silly little conspiracy theory... Me - I think the reason that Palin got negative coverage was that she was utter unqualified for the position.

[cherdano]

Lobowolf, on Nov 6 2008, 05:53 PM, said:

hrothgar, on Nov 6 2008, 06:34 PM, said:

There's very good reason why Palin came under more scrutiny than Biden.

Biden is a known quantity.  He's served in the Senate for 36 years.  His positions and his qualifications are pretty well known.

That's one reason, and I think it's a valid one.

Another reason that I think is valid is that the members of the media favored Obama by far more than the 52-46 margin that the country-at-large favored him by.

I think any comparison between Biden's gaffe's and Palin's in-what-respect-Charlies is the principle of false equivalence driven to the extreme. If you think the media was biased you should really find better examples.

My impression was that the media was pretty unbiased until the summer months. During the summer months, the main message from the McCain campaign consisted in comparing the achievements of a biracial man, grown up as a single child in a working class family and who had made it himself (by earning scholarships etc.) to become president of Harvard Law Review, with the daughter of billionaires who had become famous be the accidental release of a private sex tape.

How do you expect any journalist with some self-respect and intellect to remain unbiased when comparing the first successful national grass-roots, bottom-up campaign (read any report on the "respect empower include" principles of the Obama ground game) with Karl-Rove-wannabe miserable failures?

McCain certainly didn't start out with the media against him.

[Lobowolf]

hrothgar, on Nov 6 2008, 07:33 PM, said:

So, how do you explain Fox, the Wall Street Journal, Drudge, and the rest of the echo chamber?

The same way I explain vegans, black conservatives, and vegetables that taste good -- They exist, and they're by and large strongly outnumbered by their counterparts.