Sarah Palin in the Spotlight Again

Sarah Palin has taken the political spotlight once again with her ill-fated remark regarding the U.S. being allies with North Korea during a recent interview with Glenn Beck.  Since this statement, Palin has tried to compare her verbal mistake to those of President Obama’s.  Her argument is that everyone makes mistakes and that the media just chooses to watch her like a hawk--capitalizing on any slip up she may have.

There are a few things that come to my mind when thinking about this so called “news-worthy” story.  First, Sarah Palin complains about the media scrutinizing her while she perpetually seeks out the media spotlight.  The media made Sarah Palin the star and best-selling author that she is today.  A Sarah Palin interview is good for ratings, and it also serves her ultimate purpose of self-promotion.  Secondly, Sarah Palin is beyond unqualified to be leading national conversations on foreign policy.  She is a half-term, former governor who never had one stamp on her passport until after she received the vice presidential nominee.  For her to compare herself to Obama is absolutely like comparing apples to oranges.  In some ways, Sarah Palin is hypocritical in the statements she makes about the news media and their coverage of her versus their coverage of Obama.

On the other hand, one point that Sarah Palin does make that I can agree with is that the news media sometimes fails to do its job.  These days, media outlets are so afraid to be branded “liberal” that they completely fail to point out the substantial short-comings of inexperienced Tea-Party reformers like Sarah Palin.  The news media’s job should be to dig deeper to inform the American public.  News organizations should focus less on the ratings-value of shocking sound bites like Sarah Palin’s most recent gaffe and more on helping the American public to make informed decisions.

I Stand With Demos Kratos

Upon reading Ms. Benedict’s blog, I can side with many of the view points made in her argument.  For example, I support the comment that Christine O’Donnell has grossly overestimated her ability to represent the constitution—which O’Donnell claims is the basis of her campaign.  Christine O’Donnell is not qualified to be a U.S. Senator.  Now that the election has passed, Ms. Benedict and I can take solace in the fact that O’Donnell’s loss to Democrat Chris Coons means that the people of Delaware agree with our assessment.  Ms. Benedict’s statement about the Tea Party movement splitting up the Republican Party is quite accurate. An article I read on the Huffington Post further illustrates how O’Donnell served to fracture the conservative base in Delaware.  In the article, a rising star of the GOP, New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie, criticizes O’Donnell’s strength in representing the Republican Party over that of her primary challenger, Mike Castle.  In my view, the fracturing of the Republican Party resulted in a good thing, because it ultimately led to O’Donnell’s downfall.  I believe this downfall was necessary, because O’Donnell has a frightening lack of knowledge.  If the Republicans want to regain the momentum in Delaware, they need to select less outlandish and more qualified candidates in the future.   

In conclusion, the people of Delaware, as I am sure Ms. Benedict would agree, have restored my confidence in the judgment of the American people’s ability to elect strong leaders.  Now, we must hope that the rest of the nation can continue this trend and vote for qualified, informed candidates who can back-up what they claim to stand for.