The Freedom Bulletin

Since the Tucson shooting, the media and the public have been buzzing about s0-called “violent” political rhetoric, how it needs to be toned down, and how it allegedly led to the shooting. To all those people who find Sarah Palin’s “target map” or pictures of people holding guns or talk of “reloading, not retreating” offensive, you know what I find offensive? Mean rhetoric. Vicious insults of innocent people are far more of a problem than metaphors about guns and shooting. The following are verbatim comments (with obscene language edited out) that I have seen on YouTube about Sarah Palin:

“this silly b**** is trying to save herself. not even addressing the need of the mentally ill. i don’t have hatred in my heart but i understand why so many people are praying for the death of this greedy pig. she, like the other evil congress ignore the fact that their laws deny the mentally ill jobs and healthcare and call them animals. what a foul evil b**** trying to politicalize on the death of the people and the destruction of a broken soul.”

“Peaceful Tea Baggers, pls refudiate this dumb b****..”

“if she was responsible enough she would stop the tea party movement and stop spreading hate in this country, she is not fit for president in 2012 I think her hate toward america is wrong her website promotes it and she should be held accountable”

“palin is a woman’s nasty, fascist and a liar, a bad leader for America, this woman demonstrates everything bad in your country.”

“BREAKING NEWS to sarahs legion of a**holes for 2012..she is UNELECTABLE. there are enough of you to line up at wal-mart & buy her book, but not nearly enough to elect such a cowardly b**** to office. Right now she is hiding iin a broom closet at Fox news HQ, peeking her empty head out long enough to post insipid cliches on facebook so her mindless followers can tell her to ‘stay strong’”

“this lady is a moron and a hypocrite.no one believes what she has to say in this video.she’s a hate filled liar. SHAME ON YOU SARAH PALIN.”

“this b**** should stfu, she is responsible”

“Ok Palin is dumb s***. Just full of all types of moose and deer s***.”

“Republicans are good for one thing sucking corporate d****. She has suck so much wall street d**** she cant even talk straight.”

“She riled up attendess at her Klan rallies so much, people shouted out “Kill him!” about Obama? And she did it more than once. That was two years ago. She knew exactly what she was doing then and she went it it. She’s a disgrace to this country.”

“The republican/tea party campaign slogan’s ‘I want me country back’

is because You have a Black President!!!

F***ing despicable peckerwood republican/tea party sonb****!!!”

“I would not be troubled if Palin vanished suddenly, in fact, the less hardline, right-wing conservatives like her the better…”

“I hope someone shoots her in the face….”

Now that is what I call offensive.

Sarah Palin responded today to accusations that she somehow contributed to Saturday’s Tucson, Arizona shootings. You can watch the whole speech above, and some of my favorite parts are below:

President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, not with those who proudly voted in the last election….

There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols? In an ideal world all discourse would be civil and all disagreements cordial. But our Founding Fathers knew they weren’t designing a system for perfect men and women. If men and women were angels, there would be no need for government. Our Founders’ genius was to design a system that helped settle the inevitable conflicts caused by our imperfect passions in civil ways. So, we must condemn violence if our Republic is to endure.

As I said while campaigning for others last March in Arizona during a very heated primary race, “We know violence isn’t the answer. When we ‘take up our arms’, we’re talking about our vote.” Yes, our debates are full of passion, but we settle our political differences respectfully at the ballot box – as we did just two months ago, and as our Republic enables us to do again in the next election, and the next. That’s who we are as Americans and how we were meant to be. Public discourse and debate isn’t a sign of crisis, but of our enduring strength. It is part of why America is exceptional.

No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent, and we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good. And we will not be stopped from celebrating the greatness of our country and our foundational freedoms by those who mock its greatness by being intolerant of differing opinion and seeking to muzzle dissent with shrill cries of imagined insults.

I love this speech. I might disagree with Palin on some things (like WikiLeaks, for example) but I agree with her 100% about her and the Tea Party’s responsibility (or lack thereof) for the shootings. Civility and respect do not demand that people sit there and take it when unjustly and falsely attacked. Palin fought back, as she should. Go Sarah!

Today I went to the 2010 Boston Tea Party on the Boston Common. As I expected, it was absolutely awesome, with three hours of speeches, music, and liberty! The most high-profile speaker, of course, was Sarah Palin, but the other speakers included WTKK radio host Michael Graham, WRKO radio host Todd Feinburg, Greater Boston Tea Party president Christen Varley, and Debbie Lee, whose son was killed in Iraq. There had to have been thousands of people there, and as usual, great signs and lots of flags.

This Tea Party was organized by the Tea Party Express, a national organization. It was a little different from last year’s Tax Day Tea Party. This one felt a little more Republican and was more organized, while last year’s was more libertarian and “anarchist,” with lots of different organizations handing out literature, talking to the media, and fighting for attention. Each was awesome in its own way.

I took some videos of Palin’s speech and the songs, which you can check out at my YouTube account, since this post would be way too long if I posted them here.

I also took lots of photos:

For more coverage of the Tea Party, check out:

• Boston Globe
• Boston Herald

Did you know that Barack Obama once said there were 57 states in the US?

I didn’t either, until this week when I saw it briefly mentioned in the Metro. Obama made this gaffe way back in May. At a rally during the primaries, he said…

“It is wonderful to be back in Oregon. Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.”

None of the media have made a big deal out of Obama’s misstatement at all. I watch the news and read newspapers pretty often, and I never heard about it.

On the other hand, you’d have to be living under a rock not to have heard about Sarah Palin’s comment that “you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.” In fact, Palin’s comment was not inaccurate, as there are Alaskan islands from which Russia can be seen.

So when Palin makes a comment that is not even inaccurate, the media relentlessly exploits it in an attempt to make her look stupid. When Obama says something that most kindergartners would know was wrong, the media ignores it. That, more than anything else, shows how biased the mainstream media is toward Obama.

On TV, on the radio, on the Internet, and in newspapers, I have heard way too many people criticizing Sarah Palin for having too little experience. What makes it even worse is that these are usually the same people who gush about how much they love Barack Obama.

Let’s compare the two in terms of experience:

Palin:

• Wasilla city council (1992-1996)
• Mayor of Wasilla (1996-2002)
• >Ethics Supervisor of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (2003-2004)
• Governor of Alaska (2006-present)

Obama:

• Community organizer (1985-1988)
• Directed Illinois Project Vote (1992)
• Taught constitutional law (1992-2004)
• Lawyer (1993-2004)
• Served on board of directors of various organizations (1993-2002)
• State legislator (1997-2004)
• Senator (2004-present)

Their levels of experience seem about equal to me, but I think Palin has a slight edge. She’s served in government positions since 1992, while Obama got his first government job in 1997. Also, being a governor is better preparation for the presidency than being a senator. Governors are basically in charge of a state, which is a mini version of what presidents do. Senators are just one member of a large body that drafts legislation and votes on laws.

Plus, Obama’s running for president, while Palin is only running for VP!

So if you have to criticize Palin for not being experienced enough, be consistent and criticize Obama too.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the facts used in this post.

I had honestly never heard of Sarah Palin before today. But after reading more about her, I think John McCain made a great decision to pick her as his running mate.

The choice of Palin is historic in several ways. She is the first female Republican vice-presidential candidate, the second female on a major party ticket, the first Alaskan on a presidential ticket.

Palin may not be the most right-wing running mate McCain could have chosen, but she is still a solid conservative, and I like most of her political views. A quick check on Wikipedia shows that she is pro-life, anti-gay-marriage, and a lifetime member of the NRA.

I also applaud that McCain chose a woman as his running mate. It seems like he is trying to get the votes of women who supported Hillary Clinton and are angry with Obama for snubbing her. Palin’s age (44) and her gender will definitely help McCain appeal to a wider range of voters. Whatever the reason behind the choice, I think it’s great that there is a female on the Republican ticket! Hopefully the fact that the Republicans have a woman on their ticket and the Democrats don’t will help to dispel the myth that Republicans are sexist and opposed to gender equality.