Fair & Balanced Reporting : David Brooks Considers Sarah Palin Fatal Cancer of the Republican Party

Palin Represents ‘Fatal Cancer’ to GOP, Top Conservative Pundit Says

Wednesday, October 8, 2008 by AtlanticCanadianScot | Discussion: Internet

FrankenbarbieConservative New York Times columnist David Brooks, who has expressed doubts about Sarah Palin's readiness to serve as vice president, said this week the Alaska governor represents a fatal cancer to the Republican Party

From

(CNN) – Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks, who has expressed doubts about Sarah Palin’s readiness to serve as vice president, said this week the Alaska governor “represents a fatal cancer to the Republican Party.”

Brooks praised Palin’s debate performance and called her a natural political talent, but told a New York audience Monday that “experience matters”: “Do I think she’s ready to be president or vice president? No, she’s not even close to that,” he said.

“…Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas,” he also said, in remarks first reported by the Huffington Post. “But there has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas, but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices."

 

Other prominent conservatives, including George Will and David Frum, have publicly questioned Palin's readiness to be vice president. Prominent conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, an early supporter, said late last month that recent interviews have shown the Alaska governor is "out of her league" and should leave the GOP presidential ticket for the good of the party.

Brooks himself has also written skeptically about Palin. "Sarah Palin has many virtues," he wrote in a recent column. "If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she'd be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness."

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Xiandi
Reply #1 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 8:01 PM

So you have the news (CNN) reporting that a news reporter thinks Palin is bad?? How is that news?

Lantec
Reply #2 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 8:16 PM

Conservative and NY Times in the same breath.....give me a break.........

 

I would agree...she's not ready to be President.....but since that's not the post she's running for...moot point. She'll have on the job training prior to having to assume the Presidency anyway, which would then make her more qualified than most anyone else.

KFC Kickin For Christ
Reply #3 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 8:48 PM

I think anyone has a gall to say she's not ready for the VP slot in one breath and say Obama is ready for the chief position in another. 

Give me a break! 

 

Zoologist03
Reply #4 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 9:54 PM

So you have the news (CNN) reporting that a news reporter thinks Palin is bad?? How is that news?

Don't think about that too long...your head will implode.

~Zoo

MadDeez
Reply #5 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 10:06 PM

with any luck, we'll never need to worry about her being ready to be the VP or the Pres.

regarding the post by KFC, anyone saying McCain is ready for the position of President should rethink their logic. he's pretty much shown in the first two debates he isn't mature enough for the job. he may be 70 something in age, but he's still a child in maturity.

Jafo
Reply #6 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 10:44 PM

Tina Fey for Pres ....

Skinhit
Reply #7 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 10:52 PM

Smedley for President

ZubaZ
Reply #8 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 11:19 PM

Smedley for President
I've seen some pictures . .  he won't get elected.

Philly0381
Reply #9 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 11:30 PM

Alfred E. Newman for President

starkers
Reply #10 Wednesday, October 8, 2008 11:39 PM

anyone saying McCain is ready for the position of President should rethink their logic. he's pretty much shown in the first two debates he isn't mature enough for the job. he may be 70 something in age, but he's still a child in maturity.

Precisely! More to the point, McCain obviously has temperament issues, speaks like he has a sharp stick shoved up his butt and is clearly NOT presidential material.  My worry would be, were he President, is that he is prone to temper tantrums and is more likely than Barak Obama to get a bee in his child-like bonnet over issues with another country (for example, POW's and or American hostages) and launch a full-scale military invasion when there are alternative, more peaceful resolutions.

Nope, the man is dangerous. Apart from foreign dignitaries/diplomats snickering under their breath and not respecting him one iota for his whiny-assed voice, he looks clueless when under pressure and resorts to petty sniping at his opponents... and if a foreign leader were to laugh out loudly over his whiny-assed voice (at least Barack Obama speaks like a man who still has his cahoneys and would command more respect), you'd have a full-scale international incident on your hands.

OK, so that may be an exaggerated example and contain an element of levity, but it does reflect the nature of the beast. McCain is unstable and should never ever be President... the Commander in Chief of arguably the most potent fighting force on the planet.  With that much power at his disposal, McCain could very well be the catalyst for WWIII.

I would agree...she's not ready to be President.....but since that's not the post she's running for...moot point. She'll have on the job training prior to having to assume the Presidency anyway, which would then make her more qualified than most anyone else.

On the Job Training????  With McCain as her boss, setting policies and examples for her to follow, Sarah Palin's on the job training would be fraught with inconsistencies, temperamental issues and dangerous precedents... hardly what I call sufficient or acceptable credentials to assume the high office of President of the USA when McCain kicks the bucket.  As for being more qualified than most... hardly... and not just for the abovementioned reasons.  Like how many more 'bridges to nowhere'do you want?

Yes, I know, another extreme example laced with sarcasm and levity. but the point relates not to any bridge. No, it relates to her integrity, whether or not she has a responsible grip on fiscal spending, especially on a Federal level.  Given her past record, it suggests there is much inexperience or a great lack thereof with integrity... the latter probably being the greater of the two, given Federal funds to help finance the bridge to nowhere got rediverted elsewhere and not returned as they should have been.

Yes, it can be argued that Barack Obama lacks the experience to be the President, but he has chosen a very experienced old campainer in Joe Biden as his running mate/2 !C... a man who would bring experience and stability to the White House. It is the combination of youth and experience the US needs if it is to see change for the better.

On the other hand, you have a temperamental old fart with a running mate/2 IC who often comes across as an airhead when it comes to political, foreign affairs or financial matters... she may have a grasp on neighbourhood issues, the family budget and have a few grand in the bank, but that hardly qualifies her to deal with foreign leaders/diplomats... and certainly not to manage the US budget/economy.... it would be like putting a fox outside to guard the henhouse.

Xiandi
Reply #11 Thursday, October 9, 2008 12:28 AM

Yes, it can be argued that Barack Obama lacks the experience to be the President, but he has chosen a very experienced old campainer in Joe Biden as his running mate/2
The Republicans are the same...old guy, young running mate.

NONE of them have experience in the position, and they won't, until they are in the position..no matter who is elected, they will get "on the job training".

Everyone seems to be caught up in the argument of how much experience they have. The issue is not how much expierence they have, it's their policies, their ideals, and their plans that we should be paying attention to.

 

Daiwa
Reply #12 Thursday, October 9, 2008 12:44 AM

Some in the media begin, after awhile, to imagine they are more qualified than anyone for everything (since they know/have seen it 'all') and therefore qualified to pass judgment on those in a position to do something they cannot.  I do appreciate their efforts at sparing me the trouble of having to think for myself, very kind & generous of them, but I choose to continue to shoulder that burden rather than outsource it to a columnist.

So you have the news (CNN) reporting that a news reporter thinks Palin is bad?? How is that news?

They think they are the news.  Simple as that.

Astyanax
Reply #13 Thursday, October 9, 2008 1:59 AM

So starkers you'd prefer the most liberal senator of 2007 (voting records don't lie) and a racist hypocrite who can't get any more two faced even if he tried rather than a stubborn old man with a temper? Interesting, I find it to be the other way around. Neither are capable of being the President, but the last thing we need is someone like Obama. Just my two cents, im sure you'll try and tear apart the entire post. Not that it bothers me.

 

I also find it amusing that CNN calls this "Fair & Balanced", you don't get the nickname Communist News Network for being fair and balanced.

starkers
Reply #14 Thursday, October 9, 2008 2:36 AM

The Republicans are the same...old guy, young running mate.

Yes, that may be so!  However, Barack Obama has not displayed any of the temperamental issues exhibited by John McCain... thus is would seem He is the better man to deal with crisis/difficult situations... and Joe Biden has mot been accused of hair-brained ideas or of lacking political integrity, as has Sarah Palin.

Everyone seems to be caught up in the argument of how much experience they have. The issue is not how much expierence they have, it's their policies, their ideals, and their plans that we should be paying attention to.

For the reasons given above, that neither McCain or Palin appear to have the confidence to handle difficult situations, and thus more likely to lose the plot, the idea of focussing on their policies, ideals and plans becomes a moot point.  Just as I wouldn't want a temperamental brain surgeon with a propensity for tantrums and stuff ups to operate on me, I wouldn't want a temperamental old senator with a less than impressive track record to be running the country in which I have to live... and I hope the majority of Americans feel the same way, and reject another 4 - 8 years of Bush-like politics.

I may appear flippant at times and, to some, overuse levity (that's what I do to help comat the effects of depression), but when I say that I would hold very grave fears if McCain and Palin became President and Vice President respectively, I say it in all seriousness because I would be worried like all hell as to what would become of the World, with those two in such powerful positions.

CarGuy1
Reply #15 Thursday, October 9, 2008 8:00 AM

the most liberal senator of 2007 (voting records don't lie) and a racist hypocrite who can't get any more two faced even if he tried

Steve- You forgot to add, known terrorist ties and lack of patriotism.

One thing to concider, McCain would never intentionally harm America where as Obama would sell us to the highest bidder.

 

CharlesCS
Reply #16 Thursday, October 9, 2008 8:59 AM

Sorry Starkers, but you are basing your choices are things that are the least likely important things one should be looking for in a Presidential Candidate. You are judging both Palin and McCain on situations that have nothing to do with the Presidency as if somehow becoming President is just one step up from supervisor or manager. You are basing your choice on his voice, what other peoples outside the US think of his voice, his temper and that maybe someone from another country might get him mad because of POWs and such? So does this mean you agree with his policies but would rather have Obama's policies than a man with a funny voice, a temper and how outsiders make fun of him?

This is a weird way to pick a candidate, and here I was worried people would actually pick Obama based on his form of socialism.

ZubaZ
Reply #17 Thursday, October 9, 2008 9:27 AM

To me, one of the most interesting question in the last debate was "What don't you know and how will you learn it?" (or something like that).

The fact is that hopefully the president will have nothing to do during their term.  Sit back and watch congress spin their wheels *not* making new laws.  But if the shit hits the fan we need someone who has been there.  Who knows how things work and will take care of what needs taking care of.  That's where experience counts.  That's where having the right people advising you come in.

Now me, I think that Palin will do fine as a VP although I'd argue that she'd be better placed in the cabinet.  However, that would require a better (more win-able) running mate for McCain and I don't know who that would be.

I look forward to seeing what Palin becoems in the next 4-8 years.  Same with Obama.

SanChonino
Reply #18 Thursday, October 9, 2008 9:32 AM

One thing to concider, McCain would never intentionally harm America where as Obama would sell us to the highest bidder.

Oh GIVE ME A FEKKIN' BREAK.

No wonder our country continues down its quick decline - it's entirely filled with retards.

ZubaZ
Reply #19 Thursday, October 9, 2008 9:42 AM

No wonder our country continues down its quick decline - it's entirely filled with retards.
I hope that was a comment about the candidates and not a fellow forum member. 

SanChonino
Reply #20 Thursday, October 9, 2008 9:44 AM

I hope that was a comment about the candidates and not a fellow forum member.

Oh, of course.  Wouldn't want to get any fellow WC'ers panties in a bunch now. 

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