Thursday, July 08, 2010
Sarah Palin vs. Defense Secretary Gates:From her June 27 speech: "Secretary Gates recently spoke about the future of the U.S. Navy. He said we have to ask whether the nation can really afford a Navy that relies on $3 [billion] to $6 billion destroyers, $7 billion submarines and $11 billion carriers. He went on to ask, 'Do we really need . . . more strike groups for another 30 years when no other country has more than one?' " Palin said. "Well, my answer is pretty simple: Yes, we can and yes, we do, because we must." Because we must. Impeccable reasoning. Anybody can play this game. Want more funding for NASA? Just say we should increase its budget, because we must. Etc.
posted by Quiddity at 7/08/2010 12:38:00 PM
9 comments
Does this call for a "navel" inspection?
Well, yes, anyone can play the "criticize Palin based on a quote stripped out of context" game. Now let's look at what she actually said:
Well, my answer is pretty simple: Yes, we can and, yes, we do because we must. Our Navy has global responsibilities. It patrols sea lanes and safeguards the freedoms of our allies – and ourselves. The Navy right now only has 286 ships, and that number may decrease. That will limit our options, extend tours for Navy personnel, lessen our ability to secure our allies and deter our adversaries. The Obama administration seems strangely unconcerned about this prospect.
If you're going to criticize her, why not criticize what she actually said, instead of criticizing a straw-man distortion of what she said?
After reading her actual words, more than a "navel" inspection is required. Avast ye pirates.
By the way, is that all she said on the subject?
It's on her facebook page. She writes extensively on national security.
Does she still keep an eye on Russia? Probably, as none of the recent Russian spies had settled in Alaska. How effective.
And just how extensive are her credentials on national security besides keeping an eye on Russia? Is that why John McCain selected her as his running mate to bolster his own national security credentials?
Sarah Palin having any credibility on National Security is like having Maxwell Smart as head of your counterintelligence operation.
"She writes extensively on national security"
Right. Like she actually writes one word of that crap herself. You betcha!
Like she actually writes one word of that crap herself.
Do you think that Barack Obama writes his own speeches? He doesn't. Jon Favreau writes Obama's speeches. But no one on the left seems to get uptight about that. I can go on and say that Obama couldn't even write his own autobiography without Bill Ayres stepping in to ghost-write it, and any time Obama opens his mouth without a teleprompter, we get a brief glimpse of the real Obama -- a man who is profoundly racist, bigoted and ignorant.
The point isn't to assert that she wrote that, although it is all in her natural voice and I see no reason to believe that she didn't write it. The point is that those are her chosen policy positions. I think that they are outstanding, correct, and exactly what the United States needs in terms of foreign policy. If they are the product of a collaboration between herself and a team of foreign policy experts, then all the better. It shows that she has the judgement to surround herself with the right kind of people -- as opposed to the sort of idiots who think that a good way to conduct foreign policy is to present an "overcharge" button to Russia, try and bitch-slap Israel around, then backtrack when it doesn't work, take the side of the Iranian government over the side of the revolution that would bring down the most dangerous regime in the middle east, support Zelaya's efforts to overthrow Honduran democracy, and on and on. Advice from fools. An idiot listening to idiots and nodding his head because he and his advisers share the common bond of academic socialism.
So all the better if her foreign policy position came from a team. It means that she is already putting together that will be ready to step in and begin restoring the United States when she takes office in January 2015.
"Like Anonymous actually writes one word of that crap him(her)self." Crap is crap, whoever writes it - or as in Anonymous' case repeats it.
And what happens in January 2015 when she takes what office (or is it orifice)?
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