Palin bars, then admits reporters to UN meetings

[WoodysGirl]

By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer
34 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who has not held a press conference in nearly four weeks of campaigning, initially barred reporters from her first meetings with world leaders Tuesday, but reversed course after they protested.

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At first, campaign aides told the TV producer, print and news agency reporters in the press pool that followed the Alaska governor that they would not be admitted along with still photographers and a video camera crew taken in to photograph her meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who are here for the United Nations General Assembly this week. She also was to meet later with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

These sessions and meetings scheduled for Wednesday are part of the Republican campaign's effort to give Palin experience in foreign affairs. She has never met a foreign head of state and first traveled outside North America just last year.

At least two news organizations, including The Associated Press, objected to the exclusion of reporters and were told that the decision was not subject to discussion. Presidents and members of Congress routinely allow reporters to attend photo opportunities along with photographers and the reporters sometimes are able to ask questions during the brief photo sessions, usually held at the beginning of private meetings.

CNN, which was providing the television coverage for news organizations, decided to pull its TV crew from the first meeting, with Karzai, effectively denying Palin the high visibility she had sought. But after the campaign agreed to let CNN's producer in as well, the CNN camera crew joined the session.

According to the CNN producer who was let into Karzai's hotel suite with the photographers just before noon, Karzai was talking about his son. Palin was nodding, and asked what his name is. Karzai replied his name was Mirwais and explained that it means light of the house.

The media were escorted out after about 40 seconds.

Campaign aides subsequently announced that reporters would be allowed to accompany photographers into the later sessions with Uribe and Kissinger.

At that point, campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said it was all just a "miscommunication." Earlier, she had said, "The decision was made for this to be a photo spray with still cameras and video cameras only."

Palin has been criticized for avoiding taking questions from reporters or submitting to one-on-one interviews. She has had just two major interviews since Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose her as his running mate on Aug. 29.

On Wednesday, McCain and Palin were expected to meet jointly with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko. Palin was then to meet separately with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

___

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_el_pr/palin_leaders

[canters]

Good for her. Who likes the MSM anyways?

[BrAinPaiNt]

Good for her. Who likes the MSM anyways?


That's right...PFFTTT LET THEM EAT CAKE!!!!

Oh wait, they will protest if we don't let them in...Umm...Let them in.

She must have blinked.:laugh2:

[canters]

Palin drives the MSM crazy....they want to destroy her and she won't cooperate.

[ScipioCowboy]

Quite frankly, all the consternation generated over this issue is a trifle befuddling. It's not as if she promised to meet a group of wounded soldiers, and then reneged when she realized there would be no opportunity for a photo op.:D

[BrAinPaiNt]

Palin drives the MSM crazy....they want to destroy her and she won't cooperate.

She, or her Campaign handlers, don't want her doing interviews because she comes across like she has no clue about some of the issues.

[canters]

She, or her Campaign handlers, don't want her doing interviews because she comes across like she has no clue about some of the issues.

She is too folksy and talks too fast, to start with. But she cannot do any worse than Biden. Plus, she does irratate the media...I am all for that.

[BrAinPaiNt]

She is too folksy and talks too fast, to start with. But she cannot do any worse than Biden. Plus, she does irratate the media...I am all for that.

Folksy and talks too fast?

Maybe that is why she sounded like a robot with her cadence with Gibson...I thought I was listening to a 50s robot cartoon with the way she was pausing and emphasizing words.

The only thing she irritates the media about is her lack of interviews so far, and I would say that is more of a product of her campaign to hide her, as I noted before. However...I heard she can see the press from her window and when she watches them...she does not blink.:laugh2:

[canters]

You BP, are a gruel man.

[BrAinPaiNt]

You BP, are a gruel man.

http://herokids.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/oliver-twist-gruel.jpg

More Gruel Please.

[Sasquatch]

She is too folksy

She is a divisive culture war candidate, pure and simple, and the conservative outrage against the urbane, condescending, elitist press is part of a carefully scripted political strategy designed to psychologically manipulate and galvanize the conservative base.

[canters]

She is a divisive culture war candidate, pure and simple, and the conservative outrage against the urbane, condescending, elitist press is part of a carefully scripted political strategy designed to psychologically manipulate and galvanize the conservative base.

OK,,,,?

[BrAinPaiNt]

She is a divisive culture war candidate, pure and simple, and the conservative outrage against the urbane, condescending, elitist press is part of a carefully scripted political strategy designed to psychologically manipulate and galvanize the conservative base.

Too many big words you brainy liberal elitists.

[Sasquatch]

OK,,,,?

That wasn't necessarily directed at you, personally, but the idea that Palin is "too folksy," too ordinary, too much like regular folks to earn respectful treatment from the smug, elitist, liberal media which I think is part of the carefully crafted narrative being put forth by the McCain campaign. Sorry if it seemed tangential.

[BrAinPaiNt]

That wasn't necessarily directed at you, personally, but the idea that Palin is "too folksy," too ordinary, too much like regular folks to earn respectful treatment from the smug, elitist, liberal media which I think is part of the carefully crafted narrative being put forth by the McCain campaign. Sorry if it seemed tangential.

Oh yeah...it falls into that...who would you rather have a beer or BBQ with mentality.

It's kind of sad really that people would rather vote for someone who you would want to have a beer with over who talks with intelligence.

Heavens forbid you talk like you are intelligent....we would never want for anyone to think our leaders sound...gasp...intelligent.

[canters]

Oh yeah...it falls into that...who would you rather have a beer or BBQ with mentality.

It's kind of sad really that people would rather vote for someone who you would want to have a beer with over who talks with intelligence.

Heavens forbid you talk like you are intelligent....we would never want for anyone to think our leaders sound...gasp...intelligent.

Depends on why they sound intelligent,,,,,is there substance there or not?

Barry sounds great on the teleprompter,,,,struggles off of it. Can the candidate merely read well, or does he have an original intelligent thought?

Clinton could gab and gab in most situations,,,Barry is not in Clinton's class.

[BrAinPaiNt]

Depends on why they sound intelligent,,,,,is there substance there or not?

Barry sounds great on the teleprompter,,,,struggles off of it. Can the candidate merely read well, or does he have an original intelligent thought?

Clinton could gab and gab in most situations,,,Barry is not in Clinton's class.

Barry, unlike the others, writes a good deal of his speeches. I will also say that many read from a prompter and many screw up. Heck even mccain was so intent on reading from his own notecards recently he would barely look up. Or how about having lieberman behind him on a foreign trip not long ago and having to correct him at least twice.

Now the problem here that Sasquatch was talking about, in case the big words threw you some :D , was that it is believed by some that republicans will purposely dumb down some things and have candidates dumb down their language in order to seem like they fit in better...IMO it shows their view that the average voter is dumb, or that their average base member is dumb.

It's kind of insulting in a way, but at the same time it has a proven track record.

[canters]

Barry, unlike the others, writes a good deal of his speeches. I will also say that many read from a prompter and many screw up. Heck even mccain was so intent on reading from his own notecards recently he would barely look up. Or how about having lieberman behind him on a foreign trip not long ago and having to correct him at least twice.

Now the problem here that Sasquatch was talking about, in case the big words threw you some :D , was that it is believed by some that republicans will purposely dumb down some things and have candidates dumb down their language in order to seem like they fit in better...IMO it shows their view that the average voter is dumb, or that their average base member is dumb.

It's kind of insulting in a way, but at the same time it has a proven track record.

C'mon, quit using them big ol' words on me,,,,I just got done reading my bible and cleaning my gun,,,,:)

That is a cynical view of things,,,,,I have to admit that I did consider it already. I will not ask for credit however.

[Sasquatch]

Oh yeah...it falls into that...who would you rather have a beer or BBQ with mentality.

It's kind of sad really that people would rather vote for someone who you would want to have a beer with over who talks with intelligence.

Heavens forbid you talk like you are intelligent....we would never want for anyone to think our leaders sound...gasp...intelligent.

It's not like the various strands of conservatism lack intelligent spokespeople. But rather than expounding on the wisdom of its ideology, the McCain campaign seems to prefer stoking the flames of cultural resentment instead. The Palin selection is part and parcel to this strategy. Her convention speech employed the rhetoric of the culture war with tremendous skill to the gleeful delight of republicans who want this election to be about anything other than the past eight years.

It's Mrs. Smith Goes to Warshington--the plainspoken hockey mom with all-American values takes on the patronizing ivy league liberals of the press corps. Frank Capra would be proud.

[canters]

It's not like the various strands of conservatism lack intelligent spokespeople. But rather than expounding on the wisdom of its ideology, the McCain campaign seems to prefer stoking the flames of cultural resentment instead. The Palin selection is part and parcel to this strategy. Her convention speech employed the rhetoric of the culture war with tremendous skill to the gleeful delight of republicans who want this election to be about anything other than the past eight years.

It's Mrs. Smith Goes to Warshington--the plainspoken hockey mom with all-American values takes on the patronizing ivy league liberals of the press corps. Frank Capra would be proud.

Now you are just showing off with the expanded vocabulary.

[Sasquatch]

Too many big words you brainy liberal elitists.

Just trying to keep up with the Scipios and (Aik)bachstraps of the world.

[ScipioCowboy]

If the Left wishes to diffuse McCain's anti-elitist narrative and prove it to be nothing more than empty campaign rhetoric, the Left should muzzle its own members:

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/12/obama-on-guns-and-religion-i-didnt-say-it-as-well-as-i-should-have/

http://www.nysun.com/national/palin-pick-puts-many-women-on-the-verge/86241/

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/171553.html

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2251265&postcount=1

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0908/SC_Dem_chair_Palin_primary_qualification_is_she_ha snt_had_an_abortion_.html?showall

Without any prior prodding or instigation from the McCain camp, the Left perpetuates - nay, revels in - the notion that it is elitist and that it alone possesses a monopoly on rational and intellectual thought.

These aren't talking points I received from the McCain camp. These are my own observations and conclusions, gleaned from my experiences in the world well before a McCain camp ever existed in this election.

I'm not even an enthusiastic supporter of John McCain; I'm only grudgingly casting my ballot for him. Ron Paul was my first choice.

I support candidates based on their ideas, ideologies, and philosophies, not their ancestry, Ivy League disposition, geographic origination, or even their level of experience. I fiercely repudiate even the intimation that good ideas must be relegated to people who hail from the East Coast, have attended Ivy League Universities, and have visited Europe.

[Sasquatch]

If the Left wishes to diffuse McCain's anti-elitist narrative and prove it to be nothing more than empty campaign rhetoric, the Left should muzzle its own members:

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/12/obama-on-guns-and-religion-i-didnt-say-it-as-well-as-i-should-have/

http://www.nysun.com/national/palin-pick-puts-many-women-on-the-verge/86241/

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/171553.html

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2251265&postcount=1

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0908/SC_Dem_chair_Palin_primary_qualification_is_she_ha snt_had_an_abortion_.html?showall

Without any prior prodding or instigation from the McCain camp, the Left perpetuates - nay, revels in - the notion that it is elitist and that it alone possesses a monopoly on rational and intellectual thought.

These aren't talking points I received from the McCain camp. These are my own observations and conclusions, gleaned from my experiences in the world well before a McCain camp ever existed in this election.

I'm not even an enthusiastic supporter of John McCain; I'm only grudgingly casting my ballot for him. Ron Paul was my first choice.

I support candidates based on their ideas, ideologies, and philosophies, not their ancestry, Ivy League disposition, geographic origination, or even their level of experience. I fiercely repudiate even the intimation that good ideas must be relegated to people who hail from the East Coast, have attended Ivy League Universities, and have visited Europe.

Quotes from Obama, Matt Damon, some goofy bloggers, and Roger Ebert lead you condemn the entire Left as Ivy League elitists? That's quite a leap.

What about liberals such as mixed-race Lesbian activists in inner city LA who attend community college and advocate for affordable childcare for single mothers and more shelters for battered women? I think it's far to say that the elitist "Left," capital L, is a political straw man, nothing more.

And here we have another indication of how far contemporary conservatism has veered from traditional roots with its dismissive attitude toward travel and exposure to different cultures and worldviews which used to be considered an important and essential component to one's education and personal edification. The right wing really seems to tout ignorance -- no sex education, no evolution, no foreign travel, no global warming, no intellectuals, and no Ivy League education. How can they reconcile their national chauvinism with their repeated and ongoing assault on the products of our finest institutions of higher learning? Perhaps the USA isn't so great afterall if we can't even churn out ethical, trustworthy intellectuals deserving of our respect.

And, lastly, let's be clear about one thing: you don't get more elite than the scion of the Bushes of Kennebunkport, ME and the son of an Navy admiral who graduated from the Academy and married a wealthy heiress. That's the closest thing to aristocracy in this society.

[ScipioCowboy]

Would this apply to mixed-race Lesbian activists in inner city LA who attend community college and advocate for affordable childcare for single mothers and more shelters for battered women? The elitist "Left," capital L, is a political straw man, nothing more.

The elitist Left (much like the Religious Right) is very much real, and is an extremely vociferous and influential component of the overall Leftist movement in American politics. Of course, that's not to say every aspect of the American Left is permeated with intellectual and social elitists...any more than every aspect of the American Right is permeated with Evangelicals.

And you don't get more elite than the scion of the Bushes of Kennebunkport, ME and the son of an Navy admiral who graduated from the Academy and married a wealthy heiress. That's the closest thing to aristocracy in this society.

You'll get no argument from me there. The Bush family is most certainly an aristocracy in the East Coast mold, and their claim to conservatism has always been suspect in my book.

However, as even this thread has made abundantly clear, the success of the Bush family within the conservative movement is not predicated on their Ivy League or elitist laurels.

[ScipioCowboy]

Quotes from Obama, Matt Damon, some goofy bloggers, and Roger Ebert leads you condemn the entire Left. That's quite a leap.

Where, pray tell, did I condemn the entire Left?

The quotes I've provided are the mere tip of the proverbial iceberg, and are relegated to my searches in just this forum.

[Sasquatch]

Where, pray tell, did I condemn the entire Left?.

I hope I didn't throw you off with the editing. :D

The capitalization of the singular implies all those who are on the left of the political spectrum.

[ScipioCowboy]

I hope I didn't throw you off with the editing. :D

No problem. If editing is a crime, I'm the chief violator.;)

The capitalization of the singular implies all those who are on the left of the political spectrum.My use of capitalization was intended to refer to the Left as a general political movement, not necessarily all persons within that movement. It's akin to saying, "The Right seeks to motivate religious voters." This is true, even though not all conservatives are necessarily religious.

[ConcordCowboy]

Hasn't held a press conference in four weeks and still won't take questions from people or reporters...without personally picking them?

Frickin Pathetic.

[Sasquatch]

Hasn't held a press conference in four weeks and still won't take questions from people or reporters...without personally picking them?

Frickin Pathetic.

But she's tough as nails and skins moose and stuff, practically the female equivalent of Rambo. :rolleyes:

"Excuse me, President Ahmadinejad, the Vice President will be unable to meet with you unless you agree to this carefully scripted scenario beforehand."

[ConcordCowboy]

But she's tough as nails and skins moose and stuff, practically the female equivalent of Rambo. :rolleyes:

"Excuse me, President Ahmadinejad, the Vice President will be unable to meet with you unless you agree to this carefully scripted scenario beforehand."

Ridiculous.

:laugh2:

[Sasquatch]

Ridiculous.

:laugh2:

In her defense, who among us wouldn't wither under the disapproving, skeptical scowl of an avuncular Charlies Gibson? He is the epitome of intimidation.

http://melgreer.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/gibson.jpg

[ConcordCowboy]

In her defense, who among us wouldn't wither under the disapproving, skeptical scowl of an avuncular Charlies Gibson? He is the epitome of intimidation.

http://melgreer.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/gibson.jpg

:lmao2:

I can't believe some people have said that.

Un-frickin-believable.

:rolleyes:

And they picked him. ;)

[iceberg]

She is a divisive culture war candidate, pure and simple, and the conservative outrage against the urbane, condescending, elitist press is part of a carefully scripted political strategy designed to psychologically manipulate and galvanize the conservative base.

you sure do got pretty lips...

[Sasquatch]

http://babyboomeradvisorclub.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/bnybigbunny_img.jpg

Still stalking ...

http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/actors_films_images/glen_close.jpg

You can't just walk away from me, Sasquatch.

[ScipioCowboy]

http://babyboomeradvisorclub.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/bnybigbunny_img.jpg

Still stalking ...

http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/actors_films_images/glen_close.jpg

You can't just walk away from me, Sasquatch.

Of course, the most comically ironic line in Fatal Attraction is Glenn Close' proclamation that she's 35 years old.

Yeah. Right.:p:

[trickblue]

Of course, the most comically ironic line in Fatal Attraction is Glenn Close' proclamation that she's 35 years old.

Yeah. Right.:p:

Glenn Close has never been that young...

[ScipioCowboy]

Glenn Close has never been that young...

:lmao2:

[ScipioCowboy]

And here we have another indication of how far contemporary conservatism has veered from traditional roots with its dismissive attitude toward travel and exposure to different cultures and worldviews which used to be considered an important and essential component to one's education and personal edification. The right wing really seems to tout ignorance -- no sex education, no evolution, no foreign travel, no global warming, no intellectuals, and no Ivy League education. How can they reconcile their national chauvinism with their repeated and ongoing assault on the products of our finest institutions of higher learning?

Please post where I - or anyone else, for that matter - have abated or diminished the potential benefits of an Ivy League education or travel abroad. Unquestionably, they open up numerous avenues for intellectual development and personal amelioration.

However, (as I've already made abundantly clear) the descriptions Ivy league educated and well-traveled are not synonymous with intelligent, nor are they prerequisites for intellectualism, participation in scholarly discourse, or leadership on a grand scale; otherwise, George W. Bush would be a genius President.

Good ideas, intelligent thinking, and erudite persons hail from all walks of life and geographical regions. They aren't relegated to the East Coast.

My grievance is not with the Ivy League educated or East Coast intellectuals. My gravamen is with the crass elitism that permeates a certain vociferous element of the American Left--the arrogant and supercilious notion that intelligence must fit a specific geographic and educational mold.

How can this element of the America Left claim to be for common people and middle America when it holds them in such disregard...when it so regularly expresses disdain and contempt for the values and ideals that so many in Middle America hold dear, such as religion, Christian values, and Patriotism?

This element of the American Left supports the common person only insofar as it can remove the flaws that it perceives in him or her.

Perhaps the USA isn't so great afterall if we can't even churn out ethical, trustworthy intellectuals deserving of our respect.
Well, if one's view of intellectualism is confined to belief in evolution, global warming, sex education, and the innate superiority of the Ivy League educated, one is likely to be very disappointed; it seems that America as a whole possesses a far more robust view of intellectualism. Imagine that: finding cultural and philosophical diversity within one's own country!;)

[Sasquatch]

Please post where I - or anyone else, for that matter - have abated or diminished the potential benefits of an Ivy League education or travel abroad. Unquestionably, they open up numerous avenues for intellectual development and personal amelioration.

However, (as I've already made abundantly clear) the descriptions Ivy league educated and well-traveled are not synonymous with intelligent, nor are they prerequisites for intellectualism, participation in scholarly discourse, or leadership on a grand scale; otherwise, George W. Bush would be a genius President.

Good ideas, intelligent thinking, and erudite persons hail from all walks of life and geographical regions. They aren't relegated to the East Coast.

My grievance is not with the Ivy League educated or East Coast intellectuals. My gravamen is with the crass elitism that permeates a certain vociferous element of the American Left--the arrogant and supercilious notion that intelligence must fit a certain geographic and educational mold.

How can this element of the America Left claim to be for common people and middle America when it holds them in such disregard...when it so regularly expresses disdain and contempt for the values and ideals that so many in Middle America hold dear, such as religion, Christian values, and Patriotism?

This element of the American Left supports the common person only insofar as it can repair the flaws that it perceives in him or her.

Well, if one's view of intellectualism is confined to belief in evolution, global warming, sex education, and the innate superiority of the Ivy League educated, one is likely to be very disappointed; it seems that America as a whole possesses a far more robust view of intellectualism. Imagine that: finding cultural and philosophical diversity within one's own country!;)

There are exceptions to every rule but I think it's safe to say that 9 out of 10 times the Harvard graduate will possess greater intellectual capacity than the person who attended six different undergraduate institutions or the idiot savant who commits the Bible to memory and fancies himself a scholar of religion.

Why shouldn't those who achieve the highest levels intellectual attainment in our country look upon others with a certain degree of condescension in the same way that affluent and successful republicans disdain the poor as shiftless parasites and bleeding heart liberals as their enablers? Please, the left has no monopoly on arrogance and a patronizing attitude toward the masses and those with different political convictions.

[ScipioCowboy]

There are exceptions to every rule but I think it's safe to say that 9 out of 10 times the Harvard graduate will possess greater intellectual capacity than the person who attended six different undergraduate institutions or the idiot savant who commits the Bible to memory and fancies himself a scholar of religion.

It depends largely on how you choose to limit your view of what constitutes intelligence. I tend to hold a very robust view.

In my major, one of the more intelligent persons I encountered was originally a high school drop out, who made a series of very poor life decisions. Consequently, he was working to pay his tuition, and attending a local community college - oh so worthy of the condescending sneers of the Elitist Left. Yet, his essays were some of the most insightful and engaging I had read.

I've known Shakespeare professors who could recite by memory every single Shakespearean sonnet, but knew nothing about physics. Conversely, I've known physicists who knew nothing about Shakespeare.

Intelligence is not so neatly boxed. It exists in a myriad of forms, and its distribution isn't limited to Ivy League diploma recipients. It can be gleaned through both academia and the real world.

Good ideas have little regard for university affiliation or geographic locale.

Why shouldn't those who achieve the highest levels intellectual attainment in our country look upon others with a certain degree of condescension in the same way that affluent and successful republicans disdain the poor as shiftless parasites and bleeding heart liberals as their enablers? Please, the left has no monopoly on arrogance and a patronizing attitude toward the masses and those with different political convictions.I never asserted the Left had a monopoly on "arrogance" and "patronizing attitudes." I was commenting on a specific type of elitism that is far more prevalent on the Left than the Right--an elitism that I find particularly disdainful.

However, my answer to your question is this: They shouldn't because its reprehensible, both ways. And as long as you justify such behavior solely on grounds that its "your people" who are engaging in it, you're merely perpetuating the hypocrisy that is inherent to the two party system and is crippling our government.

[hairic]

Yeee, I get to be the first to mention that what both big government parties claim while campaigning (one more than the other) is an element of populism.

For worse cases of populism, see: Latin America (e.g. Hugo Chavez).