For a little historical perspective, here’s the old thread talking about Biden’s comments on Obama he got in trouble for in 2007. My first post on the subject is #42.
Tracy Morgan on Sarah Palin:
“Let me tell you something about Sarah Palin, man, she’s good masturbation material. Glasses and all that. Great masturbation material.”
sigh
Okay, I guess I’ll have to explain my comment a little more so that hopefully everyone can get on board with at least understanding his likeability if nothing else.
First off, in the '88 election campaign, he plagiarized a speech from a British politician (one that he’d attributed in past stump performances, but not the time in question). He had also once plagiarized a few pages in a law review article while in school, using only one footnote instead of many from a particular source. While the rules clearly stated he had to get an F for the failure to properly cite it, he was allowed to retake the course and did so.
He also didn’t “make a bunch of ridiculous lies,” aside from claiming he did better in college than he really managed to do (including thinking that having a double major gives you two BA’s instead of one). He also exaggerated his role in Civil Rights battles, a bit, but did engage in them.
THAT combination of factors was the death knell of his campaign, which was unfortunately for him already foundering.
Now that we have that straigtened out, let’s consider the following:
Sincerity - not feigned or affected; genuine.
[ul]
[li]He says what he feels, which is sometimes not well thought out.
[/li][li]His positions are known to anyone who inquires (and to many who don’t), popular or not.
[/li][li]He is not for sale, and the only way you’re going to get him to switch views is by arguing successfully based on merits (well … that he perceives as being merits, you may not always agree in that respect).
[/li][/ul] Did he lie about his academic record in '88? Yep. Did he forget to mention the British politician? Yep.
In the past week:
[ul]
[li]I’ve told multiple people they looked great when they didn’t
[/li][li]I told my son I was dissappointed with the B that he got in a class, even though I wasn’t
[/li][li]I exceeded the speed limit several times by a few miles per hour
[/li][li]I cheated on my diet several times … including as I’m typing
[/li][li]A couple of times, I gave less than 100% effort at work (does it help that I feel guilty about it?)
[/li][li]I spoke ill of another person behind their back (well, after getting off the phone, and I only felt a little guilty on that one)
[/li][/ul]All of those horrible things, and yet I consider myself to be a decent human being. Maybe I’m not, but from what I witness in daily life I think I stack up pretty well compared to many. I have a ways to go before I’ll be satisfied, but I can give myself credit for not being an absolute scumbag and I can honestly say I’m a fairly sincere individual despite the above.
I’ve always found that confusing. He seems so nice, so reasonable, and then he campaigns for things that are utterly despicable.
Seems is a good word.
He also didn’t “make a bunch of ridiculous lies,” aside from claiming he did better in college than he really managed to do (including thinking that having a double major gives you two BA’s instead of one). He also exaggerated his role in Civil Rights battles, a bit, but did engage in them.
The lies he told in that interview were pretty ridiculous, Dan. Saying you got the incorrect number of degrees, making up stuff about academic awards, etc.
The press tore him apart for it because virtually everything he said was a lie… shortly afterwards, he resigned from the race.
For folks who aren’t familiar with the interview we’re talking about, here it is:
Article from the NY Times interviewing him on the subject afterwards:
The thing is, having a double major does give you two degrees… he was a double major. But he claimed that he had gotten three degrees. How exactly do you “forget” how many degrees you got from college? It’s just a crazy lie, and easy to check.
It strikes me as really strange.
Well, you should know more politicians then. In general, they’re glad-handers who tremendously want to be liked, and are constantly embellishing little things here and there, saying they’re the best friend ever of everyone they meet, and so on.
It gets worse as you go farther and farther up the chain because, well, it works. The public eats that shit up. Even the Presidents who don’t strike you as being particularly that way (Bush 1, Carter, Nixon, Truman) are, in fact, that sort of personality. My favorite bit every about Truman was the bald-faced lies he’d tell people the day before firing them.
He got his JD and his BA. If you’re counting a double major as two degrees, then he got three.
Don’t confuse Timex with facts. You already shot down his earlier post.
You sound like my mom: can’t remember stuff that happened last week; but by God she’ll remember every single one of my childhood fuckups until she’s six feet under.
Do you have any examples of smart conservatives who occasionally say dumb things being unfairly maligned; or are you just pissy that there are not in fact any smart conservatives who occasionally say dumb things?