Unclear on the concept

[scarfman]

I'm watching CNN commentators discussing Palin's assertion last night at the Tea Party convention that we need a commander-in-chief, "not a professor of law", and there are a couple of points I think are worth repeating:

• The President of the United States is not just the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he's also charged with, takes an oath to, defend the Constitution.
• The current administration is fighting two myths about prosecution of terrorists:
  • That the previous administration carried on any differently. The previous administation prosecuted about a hundred and fifty accused terrorists in civilian courts, and three in military courts.
  • That military courts are tougher than civilian courts.

Comments

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

NPR news this noon (in the five-minute update report at the top of the hour) did a report on that speach, and they played a clip of her saying: "Now how's that 'hopey-changey' stuff working out for ya?"

I literally turned to my radio, and said out loud: "'Hopey-Changey'? Really?"

Then, I thought to myself: "It's actually not going so bad. My life may not have turned around for the better in any dramatic, tangible, way. But I certainly feel better about my country and it's place in the world.

(And I like having conversations with professors. I have ever since I was a teenager, long before I got into college. But I realize I may be in a cultural minority.)

[stoplookingup.livejournal.com]

That quote was seriously scary, because I think Palin understands exactly how to appeal to her audience. To them, there are only two things to know about law in this country: Criminals should be thrown in jail to rot, and the constitution protects the individual's right to bear arms. Other than that, law is for pansies and East Coast liberal elites; marines know better.

[scarfman]

understands exactly how to appeal to her audience

Well, but... Frank Burns, too, would know exactly what to say in front of a group of like-minded people, he just never got asked to address a convention of them. You sound like you may think Palin knows she's being manipulative, but I'm not convinced she's aware enough to realise what she's doing, even when I agree she'd still do it were she aware.

[e-m-b.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Paul, for clarity and perspective on a topic for which both seem to be in sadly short supply.