Showing posts with label Sarah Palin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah Palin. Show all posts

09 December 2010

All your incoherence are belong to us

For your amusement or amazement, here are some choice, unedited portions of a speech by Conservative member of the House of Assembly Kevin Hutchings

He was speaking on a resolution supporting the provincial government’s apprenticeship policies.

Apparently, looking back and forward, back and forth, for years to come next year and other temporally challenged concepts:

Mr. Speaker, as we look back and where we are today in looking forward in terms of significant growth we are seeing in a broad spectrum of industries here in this Province; whether it is the oil industry, whether it is technology and engineering, industrial and residential development, we have seen unprecedented growth. As we move forward for years to come, the predictions for next year are that the GDP for this year Province will be growing at a rate, probably the highest in the country.

What we have seen in past years, and what we are going to see in future years looks very promising. Skilled trades in terms of meeting that demand in terms of the labour market, meeting those projects that lay ahead of us is important. We have to have the foresight and do the work to make sure that we can meet those needs in the labour force, that our population, all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who we encourage that they seek a career in the skilled trades. As well, that the opportunity is there for them to access what they need to make that career in the skilled trades as we need them, as we move forward.

Mr. Speaker, just recently obviously, with the term sheet on Muskrat Falls, the Lower Churchill. We have things like Long Harbour, in the mining industry, commodity markets have come back over the past year. Good things are there happening as well.

All of that in terms of those projects and what is needed out there, that is a requirement that this government has supported the initiatives of the skilled trades and will look forward to continuing to build on what we have done to date, so we can meet all of those needs, Mr. Speaker. It includes thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity, current and what we will see in the future as well, Mr. Speaker.

Hmmm.

North.

To the future.

Something suggests Kevin’s idol is Sarah Palin.

Just don’t expect Shatner to be making any performance art out of this little gem.

- srbp -

14 September 2010

A left wing Tea Bagger

Pity the poor federal New Democrats.

Just as they turn themselves in knots over a private members bill on the gun registry, along comes defence critic Jack Harris sounding like a left wing Tea Bagger but without Sarah’s Palin’s intellectual depth or subtlety of mind.

Harris managed to get himself standing before the offshore helicopter safety inquiry. The former provincial New Democratic Party leader decided that his closing remarks were a good time to launch another unfounded assault on the integrity of the men and women of the Canadian Forces who provide search and rescue service.

"As long as that Canadian Forces Response [sic] time is as slow as it is — and inadequate in my view — then there may have to be more severe restrictions on the use of helicopters to transport offshore," said Harris, MP for St. John’s East and defence critic for the federal NDP.

That’s the quote from a story carried by cbcnl.ca. Harris recommended that offshore helicopter flights be limited to daylight hours during the weekdays since, as the Telegram put it:

The Department of National Defence’s (DND) search and rescue response times are 30 minutes on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and two hours at all other times.

The only problem is that Harris knows the response is not slow, as he alleged, nor is it confined to certain hours during the day, as his comments suggest.  Harris knows the correct information that because of evidence presented at the inquiry.  The information is there.  Why he choses to ignore it remains a mystery.

The offshore helicopter inquiry, directed very ably by retired Supreme Court justice Robert Wells, has revealed a great many details of offshore helicopter safety and travel that many – likely including Harris  - did not know before. It is all information that should have led Harris to make other comments, ones that fit within the inquiry mandate.  That information was there as well.  Why he chose to ignore it and instead launch yet another attack against the men and women of the Canadian Forces remains a mystery.

But it is not the first time Harris has made comments contrary to the facts.  In an interview with CBC Radio, Harris called for an agency separate from the offshore regulatory board to set standards for offshore safety.  He made the comments while discussing safety standards set by Transport Canada, the agency separate from the offshore regulatory board that sets safety standards for the offshore.

On another occasion, Harris said that on the day of the Cougar incident, the Gander search and rescue squadron was “off station,” that is outside the province. They were not outside their operational area and, as evidence at the inquiry confirmed, the presence of all the region’s search and rescue aircraft in Sydney Nova Scotia for an exercise sped up some aspects of the response.

Harris has accused the Canadian Forces of failing to conduct a study of the Cougar incident out of fear of what might be revealed.  He had no basis for making the allegation  - yet another cheap shot - but yet he made it anyway.

Outside the bizarro world where Harris might be considered an expert in anything military, let alone search and rescue, it is hard to fathom why the New Democrat defence critic persists in sloganeering. Perhaps someone has told him that it plays well with the base.

Well, it is hard to imagine New Democrats being quite so stupid as Harris’ comments suppose. New Democrat voters are, in fact, considerably more intelligent than Harris’ remarks allow.  Nor are Harris’ comments consistent with what any Canadian would expect of a national party that is serious about wanting to form government.  But apparently, they do at least wish to pose as such a party.

Interestingly enough, though, when Harris had the chance to question Colonel Paul Drover at the Wells inquiry, he wasn’t quite as bold in his assertions.  Faced with someone who knew the facts, Harris would only cluck about the gold standard. In itself, that is revealing.

Harris’ anti-military comments reduce the New Democratic Party’s position to a caricature.  They diminish the men and women of the party.  What is worse, Jack Harris’ scurrilous comments attack the men and women who risk their lives to rescue others.

If Harris had the courage of his convictions, if he really is  - as some contend - some sort of an expert, he ought to do one simple thing:  go to Gander sometime soon and speak with the men and women of 103 Squadron and their families.  Not a private meeting, but one with media present.  Let Harris explain – in his expert opinion – how it is that 103 Squadron screwed up the Cougar response.  Let him point out why their response to search and rescue calls, generally,  is too slow and how they might do it better.

And then let Jack sit back and hear from the real experts. That would be something worth broadcasting in prime time.

Sadly, it will never happen.  But it won’t be because the men and women of the Canadian Forces are afraid of the results.

No.

It won’t happen for the same reason Jack says one thing to the media, but another thing when faced with a real expert.

- srbp -

09 March 2010

90 or more Club

The result of just a quickie google scan on politicians with a voter approval of 90% or better:

1.  Sarah Palin (Republican), former Governor of Alaska.

2.  Jon Huntsman, (Republican) former Governor of Utah.

3.  George W. Bush, (Republican) former President of the United States

4.  Hisself.

Interesting.

-srbp-

12 August 2009

Exit strategy

What do Sarah Palin and Ryan Cleary have in common?

Poor exit strategies that prompted rumours and a host of questions based on the way they left their jobs.

Admittedly, Sarah Palin was much funnier that Ryan ever was but the basic point remains the same:  leaving a job requires a coherent exit strategy to quash rumours and avoid problems for both the person leaving and the soon-to-be-ex-employee.

The Globe has an interesting take on how to leave a job successfully.

-srbp-

04 July 2009

“Negativity” and “bloggers” part of Palin excuses

Some aspects of Sarah Palin’s resignation excuses will sound familiar to people living t the other book-end of the continent’s northern reaches.

From the unedited transcript of self-described hockey mom Palin’s public remarks:

It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now.

Palin was referring to complaints of ethics violations against her using state ethics laws.  Palin blamed people she described as “political operatives” for her woes.

Sounds a bit like frivolous access to information requests and people with a personal vendetta against government.

Then there are the comments that come from a senior Alaska Republican official:

Asked why Palin was stepping down as opposed to finishing her term (which ends in 2010), the RGA header cited pesky bloggers and activists as the reason. Palin had insisted she didn't want to put Alaskans through two years of a lame-duck governorship.

"I don't think this is buckling to pressure," said Ayers. "I think this is her coming to the realization that the legislature in Alaska and that some bloggers and activists in Alaska are going to do everything they can to stymie her progress. This is a governor who didn't run for the office because she wanted a title. She wanted to make significant change in the state. She realized that that was no longer going to be able to happen, because things had become so partisan there."

Even that sounds just a wee bit familiar – eerily familiar -  although the specific words used by the province’s Leading Hockey Player may be slightly different:

My biggest frustration in coming from several decades in the private sector to public life is trying to maximize my time to be the CEO of Government and run it to the best of my ability with my management team of Cabinet and public servants, and simultaneously deal with the day to day nonsense of counter- spinning negativity. That's politics, but for a pragmatic results oriented leader with a social conscience it can be very counter productive.[Emphasis added.]

Too negative. Too partisan.

Trying to “progress” but always being held back by these nefarious forces.

Makes you wonder.

Things get tough in Alaska, Palin packs it in.

Things get tough in NewfoundlandLabrador…

-srbp-

Happy second term, President Obama

Sarah Palin is considered by most to be a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

This should make Republicans in the United States decidedly uneasy. 

Palin’s departure/resignation comments are, in places,  vague and in other places confused.  Notice they are not confusing;  it should be clear to anyone listening that Palin was blabbering incoherent nonsense.  She switches with apparent easy between referring to herself in the singular to referring to herself in the plural, for example. She talks of the need to do some thing – never clearly stated -  in politics from outside politics, as if that was possible.   

Palin proved to be an appalling choice as vice-president, worse than the spelling champion chosen by Bush I.  She is, as John Cleese has described her, a good actor.  A good parrot.  She learns lines and repeats them.  She does not think.

Cleese should know:  he’s worked with an intelligent, funny Palin and a dead parrot in the same sketch.

When Palin had handlers during the presidential campaign she looked better.  She looked better because she had campaign professionals feeding her lines and dressing.  Palin may have complained but it worked.

In Alaska on Friday, Palin on her own, without handlers, massagers and healers, was closer to what American would get in Palin the presidential candidate.

If Sarah Palin – parodied by a comedian who merely copied the politician  without changing a thing -  is a presidential hopeful because she appeals strongly to the party’s voter base, Republicans might wish to do some serious repairs to the foundation of their party.

When they look beyond Palin, they should get ever more concerned.

Her rival is Mitt Romney, another insubstantial lump of plastic.  Both Romney and Palin are on the campaign trail already. The recent election is barely eight months over and already 2012 candidates are working the stump.

That alone should tell much about the prospective candidates.

Sarah Palin’s departure from gubernatoral politic is brilliant, according to Mary Matalin.  Clearly, Matalin is willing to take one for the team, in this case a hit to her credibility.  She is always on message and  always on point which is more than could be said of Palin.

Matalin and her fellow strategists are too sharp not to know the party is in big trouble.  Once the holiday weekend  - and a few heads – starts to clear.  Maybe Matalin and her colleagues should take a look at where their party is going.

For the heights of political success to Sarah Palin, Greatest Hope in a mere two decades.

That should send chills up anyone’s spine.

Oh.

And by the way.

Obama’s second term is guaranteed.  Congrats Mr. President.

And the way things are looking, Biden’s got a serious shot at 2016.  Back to back to back Democrat presidents.

Everyone can thank the likes of Sarah Palin.

-srbp-