Originally Posted By Mr X Okay, this guy really does need to shut up. <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/09/23/2008-09-23_barack_obama_tells_running_mate_joe_bide.html" target="_blank">http://www.nydailynews.com/new...ide.html</a> "When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed," Biden told Katie Couric." Gee, I guess Herbert Hoover wasn't really such a bad guy after all. I never realized the crash happened on FDR's watch. Good thing he got on TELEVISION (!?) real quick to reassure folks. Ugh.
Originally Posted By ecdc It was a clumsily worded statement, to be sure. But I don't think Biden's any kind of idiot. All he was saying was that a real leader takes action, which is what Roosevelt did. I also believe that he knows that Roosevelt didn't go on television; he was comparing him to McCain and McCain's weak response.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney Sadly, most Americans probably think FDR WAS president when the crash happened lol. And Television lol!!! Yeah, I think Biden is a few decades off ;D.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***All he was saying was that a real leader takes action, which is what Roosevelt did.*** Except that he didn't. Herbert Hoover was president at the time.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney Yeah, I'm sure he knew all of that, he was probably just getting ahead of himself and slipped up. That DOES seem to happen with him a lot though....hopefully not too much at the debates, that's suppose to be Palins job lol.
Originally Posted By ecdc I understand who was President at the time. I know how silly and oversimplified Biden's statement sounds. I've read David Kennedy's "Freedom from Fear" on the Great Depression. What I'm saying is that Biden made an off-the-cuff remark about what leadership means in a financial crisis. Hoover didn't do anything - he was a "brainy" man but not one of action and certainly not an engaging politician. Roosevelt was those things, and it's what he brought to the table in the years following the Crash. That's all Biden was saying. He knows good and well that Roosevelt didn't go on TV because there was no TV; he was just saying what good leaders do and don't do. How can we take issues seriously if we harp on every last mistake? I've defended McCain for his 100 years phrasing, and for mixing up Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. There's real issues to be had.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder This one is too easy. Biden's not an idiot. Confused? Sure. Many people will interchangeably use the phrase Stock Market Crash with the Great Depression. And FDR certainly did get on the radio, as opposed to television, and have his "Fireside Chats" with the public after he took office. This simple tactic went a long way towards calming fears, and it was during these chats he used the phrase "The only thing we need to fear is fear itself." But an idiot? No. An idiot is someone who is convinced God wants a victim of rape or incest to carry a baby to term. An idiot is someone who accepts a Vice Presidential nomination, only to be exposed as a fraud by not being allowed to talk to the media except in tightly controlled circumstances. An idiot is the person who caves in to pressure from the far right and selects such a candidate, thereby betraying everything he's stood for for the last 30 years.
Originally Posted By mawnck Most people know about Roosevelt's fireside chats from the newsreel footage of them, which they have seen on television. An easy slip to make, IMHO, although it sure does make it problematic to criticize McCain when he misspeaks.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<An easy slip to make, IMHO, although it sure does make it problematic to criticize McCain when he misspeaks.>> These guys are on stage virtually 24x7. They are going to say dumb stuff once in a while. Obama and his 57 states is a good example of that. We all know that Obama knows there are not 57 states. You get tired and stuff comes out your mouth that is wrong. It is unfair of the press to jump all over them when it happens. It is unfair of US to jump all over them when it happens. Let's face it. Neither Obama, Biden, McCain nor Palin would be where they are today if they were idiots. It is stuff like this that makes McCain and Palin want to avoid the press. I'm sure they are willing to take legitimate criticism. They just want to avoid cheap shots like this.
Originally Posted By mele I'm sure they do want to avoid it but that doesn't mean they can hide out. Of course they will occasionally misspeak and cheap shots are going to happen, both come with the territory. They either need to deal with it or find new careers, not shelter Palin. If they want us to respect her and think she's ready to be VP, she needs to not be afraid of this sort of thing.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney I hear you RT, I do! These people arent gods, they are going to make silly little slips up that we all do everyday. Difference is we dont have to worry about haiving a camera in our faces 24/7 and have American analyze every little word we say. I imagine it must be hard for them, but this is the price to lead the most powerful nation on earth . Of course things like 'You can see Russia from my house' is more of a pointed statement that just embarrasingly misfired, but I'm willing to give her and the others the benefit of a doubt IF its just a bunch of dumb things they say from time to time.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Of course things like 'You can see Russia from my house' is more of a pointed statement that just embarrasingly misfired<< LMAO. That's a Tina Fey quote, not Sarah Palin.
Originally Posted By utahjosh <How can we take issues seriously if we harp on every last mistake?> Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Don't yo know how politics work now?
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I think everyone acknowledged comming into this final stretch that Biden's major liability is that he has a tendency to speak off the cuff and these off the cuff remarks aren't always as well thought out as they could be. I'm relieved that his comment isn't any stupider, honestly.
Originally Posted By mele LOL, Mrs ElderP. That kind of strikes me as what politics is *really* about these days...relief that their comments aren't any stupider. Good one!
Originally Posted By WorldDisney >>Of course things like 'You can see Russia from my house' is more of a pointed statement that just embarrasingly misfired<< "LMAO. That's a Tina Fey quote, not Sarah Palin." LOL, you want to know what's funny, I watched that skit again about 15 mins before I commented here....guess it just stuck with me ;D.
Originally Posted By mawnck She said you can see Russia from Alaska, which is technically true. <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2200155/" target="_blank">http://www.slate.com/id/2200155/</a> >>In her Sept. 11 interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson, Sarah Palin had this to say about Russia: "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." Is that true? Yes. Russia and Alaska are divided by the Bering Strait, which is about 55 miles at its narrowest point. In the middle of the Bering Strait are two small, sparsely populated islands: Big Diomede, which sits in Russian territory, and Little Diomede, which is part of the United States. At their closest, these two islands are a little less than two and a half miles apart, which means that, on a clear day, you can definitely see one from the other. <<
Originally Posted By WorldDisney No, its true, no one is doubting that fact....it just came off as really lame to peg it to some foreign policy 'experience' she was trying to make with it. Russia is the biggest country on the planet, so just being near it gives you the experience you need I guess lol.
