The call came early this week to our Upper West Side headquarters, where our operatives were screening Jewish films, reading Jewish books, trying to pick some films for Schmoozedance 2009, and trying to figure out who McCain’s choice would be for VP.

“Meet me in the parking garage in Brooklyn down the street from Yeshiva of Flatbush,” the caller said.

“You mean the place Isaac Mizrahi studied at?,” I replied.

“Yes,” said the caller, “that’s the place. And come alone”

I had seen the film “Ushpuzim” there in their segregated seating auditorium a few years ago, so I knew how to get there.

“Does this mean it’s going to be Senator Joe Lieberman?, I asked

“No,” he said gruffly, “Don’t confuse me with such narishkeit.”

I ventured out to the wilds of Brooklyn, alone, and met this bearded man, in the shadows of a parking garage, which was having a weekend parking special for the upcoming Labor Day holiday. Make a note of that.

Here is what he told me.

“McCain is choosing a woman. She is a governor of a far-flung U.S. state. She hasn’t been in office long. She has a BA in Journalism.”

And that was it.

He disappeared. And all that was left was the faint smell of hummus, Abu Ghosh style.

I got on my cell phone and called my office on a secure line. I relayed the information, and we peed in our pants with glee. He would obviously select a Jewish woman as VP, to appease the disaffected and disinfected Clinton supporters. We had our scoop for Jewlicious. Hurray! Who else could it be, other than the Jewish governor of Hawaii, Linda Cutter Lingle. Lingle was a Governor, a journalism major, and in a far flung state of the union.

Can’t you envision it? Shabbat in the VP Mansion. Pineapples as garnishes. Macadamia nuts in her office.

OY! WE GOT IT WRONG. SORRY JEWLICIOUS READERS

It wasn’t Hawaii. It wasn’t tropical flowers and surfing. It is oil drilling and moose burgers. Oh well. That is the last time I venture to Brooklyn and make a snap judgment on good information. Or at least I hope it is.

Gov Sarah Palin (AK)

Gov Sarah Palin (AK)

Gov Linda Lingle (HA)

Gov Linda Lingle (HA)

About the author

larry

46 Comments

  • I admit to having a crush on Sarah Palin. Please don’t tell my wife. Sarah is, like, the only Republican I really, really like.

  • yes.. i am so sorry i could not meet.. but now that my abba is out of da’ krankhaus, i am more free to meet up anytime

  • YOU JUST GOTTA LOVE the head of the REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION.

    He issued a statement that reads, “As governor of Alaska, Palin has enjoyed a strong working relationship with Alaska’s Jewish community. She has demonstrated sensitivity to the concerns of the community and has been accessible and responsive.”

    A strong working relationship? With whom? All ten of them? WIth Dr. Joel Fleischman?

    Just kidding… There are only 5,000 Jews in Anchorage, 600 in Fairbanks and 300 in Juneau. There are some synagogues for the frozen chosen and even a Chabad joint. But I have more Jews and synagogues on my street, I think.

    Does This mean Rabbi Oblath will be giving opening blessings at breakfast events in Wsh DC?

  • As far as I know, she doesn’t visit electronicintifadah.com every day either. Nor is her church anti-semitic, her friends aren’t unrepentant terrorists, and she doesn’t associate with Farrakhan. Guess American Jews just have low standards these days.

  • How about the last 24 hours in US politics? Incredible. The One, and Sarah Barracuda. I haven’t had this much fun since Manny Ramirez left town.

    If Biden was low-risk, low-reward, this is a hell of a roll of the dice. There’s no in-between on this one. Palin’s either Dan Quayle with two X chromosomes, or she’ll win him the election.

  • Not a fan of the Maverick, but a true detractor of Obama, I must say to McCain on the timing and method of delivery of this announcement: “Well played sir, well played!”

  • It really has been an incredible 24 hours. This should be fun. You have to give McCain bonus points for choosing her. She’s not the counterpoint to Biden, she’s the counterpoint to Obama. You know all those Hillary feminists and other female supporters who are pissed off? They actually have a woman to vote for now.

  • Yeah.

    Mr. Hope-and-Change picks an old, white beltway hack who has been in the Senate since before the Flood (“Remember, America, I may have no experience whatsoever, but Joe does”), and McCain goes for the vagina vote.

    So much for stereotypes. I’m really not sure what to make of this.

    But, like Tom said, she’ll win or lose him the election. Still is she really the most experienced, credentialed person he could find? Somehow I doubt that, and the Chick Factor must have played a big role.

    But is McCain rerally hoping that Hillary’s PUMAs will really vote Republican just because his Veep has ovaries? She’s pro-gun, pro-life, pro-drilling, etc. I can’t imagine a disgruntled, liberal Hillarynaut would vote for her just cuz she’s a fellow chick.

    McCain’s either an idiot or a genius.

  • This is whom McCain picks for a running mate, a woman with LESS experience then Obama. You may not like it, but McCain just shot himself in the foot. He gave a hint saying the persons named started with P. We were thinking Colin Powell. He would have made a strong V.P. Great on foreign policy and has a hell of alot experience on The Hill . A majority of his own party dont even like him and most consider him the other candidate. It is my belief that he will lose many of the votes from people who do not like obama and were going to vote for him

  • Rumor has it that Trigve Palin isn’t Sarah Palin’s son, but rather grandson. Numerous inconsistencies in the pregnancy and birth stories lead me to lend more credence to the rumor. Hiding a daughter’s pregnancy could be potentially very damaging, especially if we hear that Bristol might have been forced to carry to term rather than consider her choices. Combined with Wooten-gate, this scandal could make Palin’s clean-cut image ready to implode. I’d like to thank McCain for selecting a heavily inexperienced, soon-to-be-scandal-ridden woman to potentially be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, ensuring that Obama will win in November. Good going, McPOW!

  • And Alex, as far as I know, Obama doesn’t visit EI either. Take your lies elsewhere and admit your guy just lost the election.

  • Joshua, I’d prefer to wait until the actual election, but since you crybaby Democrats feel the last two elections were stolen, engineered, or fixed, then why wait. Welcome Mr. President Obama! You won because democrats say so. Because people like Joshua, who wouldn’t cross a party line even if an anti-Semite like Pat Buchanan endorsed his candidate thinks so, and boy does he have an open mind. I hate to remind you, that both McCain and Palin have fought their own party and crossed party lines to get things accomplished and bills passed. Unlike of course Obama and Biden, the 1st and 3rd most liberal members of congress that have such a brilliant track record, opposing each other on key votes and both being proven wrong.
    http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/23/in-the-dead-of-night-obama-announces-vp-choice/

    And how many times have either even approached the centrists to get things accomplished? Right, the party of unity! Let’s unify only and all of the fringe left wing (otherwise known as the league of victimhood) and proclaim that this is what’s right for America.

    Tell me again how Biden wanting to throw money at the Iranians (whom he called Arabs) after Sept 11th with no strings attached would be great for Jews and Israel again?
    http://www.tnr.com/columnists/story.html?id=ba9b09bb-ed01-4582-b6ec-444834c9df73&k=93697

    Back to IE, and while we’re at it, Huffpo and Daily Kos (a bastion of pro-Jewish sentiment ;)):
    http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6619.shtml
    http://www.google.com/reader/shared/16774216154071822567

    And I’m not going anywhere Josh. I, unlike many of the American Jews here, would like to show readers who frequent this blog that Jews don’t all think the same, vote as a monolith, and can use critical thinking and rational to form their political opinions rather than archaic loyalties handed down to them from Bubby’s battles for rights in the 60’s. Your party has changed, has left you behind, and welcomes anti-Semites with open arms. How you rationalize that is on you. It’s OK though, American Jews foolishly supported the Communists while they were oppressing Jews in the Soviet Bloc, so it wouldn’t be the first time you were on the wrong side. I can see why your party would get their panties in a bunch having used identity politics all these years, suddenly reaping the fruits of their labor. You guys are just pissed that the Republican party may actually get a woman into the White House before the victim party can. It’s too bad I guess. You chose the mixed race guy over the woman, and then let him pass her over when you had a chance for a double-minority ticket, even though she had a better chance at winning than both Obama and Biden. Talk about intelligence and judgment, which happen to be what Obama-Biden are running on alone, because experience and successful legislature are not forthcoming.

    See, I used to think like you do now. I voted for Gore in 2000. I can tell you, the liberal world is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. You have to wrap yourself into an ideological pretzel just to shape your worldview. I certainly tried while I was there. Hey, don’t be mad at me; I don’t tow the line, so you can.

  • Watch the YouTube video of McCain announcing the nomination. He’s constantly leering at her ass from behind.

    Either he was too hot for her (and not in a very political way) or every other credible female choice in the party was too cold for him. Kay Bailey Hutchison ring a bell? If this was a slap in the face to Obama, it was the most superficial of slaps. A la Sullivan, would she have had the chops to take on the strongest political machine in her party, and win?

    I’m starting to think that the realization that McCain is, as a friend of mine puts it, a “sacrificial lamb”, must have been too evident to too many contenders in the GOP.

    Good Luck, Mr McCain!

  • Oh Boy! What would Jewlicious be without Alex to grace its presence?

    The term “liberal” is more than just a modern, re-invented slur against the far-left. But maybe if I read less John Locke and were more contemptuous of the Bill of Rights, then that would help me get with the program.

  • She totally did hide a pregnancy. She announced that she was expecting when she was pretty far along, and then gave birth a month early only a few weeks later.
    That was her fifth child, Trig, who also has Down Syndrome, so that’s the sympathy vote, right there. Her oldest son, Track, has recently joined the military, so there’s the military mom vote. She’s got a 16 year old daughter, Bristol, and a 13 year old, Willow. Piper is 7, born during Palin’s days as mayor of Wasilla. She’s good for photo ops.

    And yes, Sarah Palin is hot. Certainly one of the most beautiful women in Alaska. She’s very nice, very smart. I like her. But I’ve never voted for her, and I don’t know if I ever will.

  • Has it ever appeared to anybody that a woman already makes a choice once she decides when to spread her legs and to who? We like to consider our youths more mature and grown-up, women more responsible for their lives whereas they aren’t if we promote skipping responsibility (there also is over-the-counter birth control available galore in addition to sexual techniques that won’t get you pregnant) instead of living up to them. Free sex-ed is available all over the Western world. Women aren’t fertile all year round, you know. BTW, I’d be considered a progressive, emancipated European, but I understand that if I want to be considered an adult, I also have to suck up on the responsibilities. And I’m not claiming all abortions should be banned, but I think the pseudo-progressive, pseudo-emancipated should reconsider whether abortion really constitutes as a means of family planning. Two generations raised with the credo of “Do whatever you want. Explore your individuality. You don’t owe anybody anything.” have been enough.
    Also, I can understand that a public woman might choose not to announce her pregnancy early on; a friend of mine wouldn’t either as for the first six months she was in risk of losing the child.

  • Are you people serious with the fake pregnancy rumor here? Because if you have that proof, please share it with the rest of the world, lest you turn this site into infowars.com or some other troofer site.

    Froylein, I completely agree with you. As you know, in my former country, abortion WAS the birth control, but for reasons different than here. Russians consider the body a lifeless organism or vessel that lends credence to the state and it’s needs. So you had a little problem, like a cold sore or a fetus, you just went in and lanced it off.

    Maybe some of that has rubbed off on me, because I think people are over-rated. I completely support abortion as a method of preventing the duplication of stupid or unwanted people. I think women and women alone should be the arbiter of that decision, with the exception of the father, who I think should be listened to, but far less quantified. My only problem with abortion, is that I don’t think I should foot the bill with my tax dollars so some loser can keep getting knocked up and “taking care of it” at will. That is rewarding bad behavior and I want no part of it. And I especially think it’s rude to religious people who are anti-abortion, to use their tax dollars for something they believe to be a terrible sin.

  • MUL,

    You should read less John Locke and be less contemptuous of the Bill of Rights. Yes, I agree. OK?

  • In any event, sooner or later we’ll have to get around to the fact that Sarah Palin coordinated the Alaska campaign for PATRICK J. BUCHANAN in 1996 (he had very good words to say about her and vice versa, BTW), that ultra-conservative troglodyte who – (Alex should be proud to know) – is also a well known Nazi Sympathizer and admirer of Hitler. Of course, not that his anti-Semitic sentiments should upset too many people or anything, but just thought you should know. It’s the talk of the town. WAY TO GO GUYS! DIG INTO THAT OLD BUBBE JEWISH FLORIDA VOTE! Like woot, etc. GO America and the GOP ad infinitum. USA.

  • Asked on PBS whether Palin takes the experience issue away from McCain, Mark Shields said a McCain advisor told him that that issue got McCain to 45% in the polls– that Hillary Clinton had run on experience for months and it wasn’t enough to overtake Obama, until she went with a different message.

    MUL inadvertently demonstrates a potential upside of Palin’s– if Dems want to talk about inexperience, or troubling associations, it puts Obama’s in play.

    If Palin gets through this initial period of intense media scrutiny, she should net-net help McCain. Certainly the right is ecstatic about her, so if nothing else she’ll insure a big conservative turnout.

  • ….Reading Chuck Shumer, Pelosi et al. on Palin, their all-out blitz may succeed in defining Palin permanently as a lightweight– or it may set the expectations bar so absurdly low that Palin will look like she’s ready for Mt. Rushmore, if she does decently well v. Biden, for example.

  • Not much that was inadvertent in that demonstration, Tom; it really is part and parcel of the same analysis – and obviously so if you ask me. My take on it is that I think it effectively takes the “experience” card off the table, and McCain must have wanted it that way to somehow neutralize Obama’s ability to relate to voters from the 21st century in a way in which McCain perhaps does not. The sometimes emotional Andrew Sullivan, to whom I nonetheless graciously appeal in stirred up times such as these, quotes either a conservative columnist or one of his readers in gauging this to be an attempt at a contemptuous slap in Obama’s face. Perhaps it was. But if nothing else, I’m not minding the more learned partisan commentary right now decrying the un-conservative nature of McCain’s judgment and temperament when it comes to this event and other things, as a reflection on not just himself, but on his party, as well.

    So let the Democratic leadership flame her while they can. She won’t win the cross-over votes McCain (and Kristol) sucked up to, anyway. And I think that’s pretty much all that matters in the end.

  • Oh, I see, Tom. You mentioned “troubling associations”. I missed that the first time.

    I’m willing to gamble that being associated with Pat Buchanan will be at least as troubling to Jewish voters as all that other garbage being thrown at Obama. Actually, she wasn’t just associated with him. She actively campaigned on behalf of him. Wait, no, she coordinated his campaign in her own state. Older people remember things having to do with the venerable Pat Buchanan, especially in Florida.

    We were talking about Jewish voters, right Tom?

  • I have a more extensive comment immediately preceding the most recent Pat Buchanan post that is pending moderation as I write this and goes into more detail, in a less particularist fashion, about the fall-out of this decision and the events currently surrounding it for the election generally.

  • Since we’ve touched upon the experience question, we might as well take the opportunity to tie this into foreign policy credentials/stances specifically.

    Are Palin’s ebullient ties to Pat Buchanan a way to rescue the Ron Paulites back into the Republican fold?

    Ha.

    Ha. Ha!

    HAHAHAHAHA

    John McCain and the GOP are pathetic!

    Absolutely pathetic.

  • Seriously, you’ve gotta check out the video where McCain announces his VP pick. Not only is he possibly ogling her tushie, he’s fiddling with his ring. Constantly. This picture is hilarious.

    McCain could have appealed to disgruntled, female, blue-collar Democratic voters. Instead, he threw out a big political hard-on to display to everyone and called it bravery, independence, daring, grit, etc., etc., etc. Newsflash for the GOP: Young, hot-blooded, heterosexual males are not the demographic you need to go for.

    What a bunch of fucking tools. Seriously.

  • Especially when they’re already likely to be impressed by a VP’s staunchly conservative views (re: “Young, hot-blooded, heterosexual males”).

    Ok. I’m done for now. It’s a Saturday. I can see Alex, his fellow-travelers, and anyone interested in entertaining his political sentiments have a lot of work to do. A lot of cleaning up to get moving on.

    My condolences.

  • Shame, think of the great jokes late night tv talk show hosts could had for 4 years with a female VP named Cutterlingle.

    (I’m still done with Jews but I still love this blog)

  • A woman with a B.A. who doesn’t believe in birth control or abortion with 5 kids, one who had Down’s.
    Shit…he could’ve picked any shtetl-dwelling Frum working mother from Plifton to fit those credentials.
    I’ve been a registered Republican for 26 years but I will be listening to St. Oprah on when I vote this year.

  • She also believes in creationism, Chutzpah. Perhaps that has something to do with her role in creating four kids — and as legend has it, maybe a fifth. God made it happen. No, really.

    Well, at least the Republicans are proving themselves content to keep up the anti-science posturing. That’s got to count for something.

    Come to the rational side… Oprah beckons you…

  • Actually, I’m generally not firmly wedded to either party, but am happy to see the Dems strike back with with a time-honored appeal to that venerable Western tradition we call reason. They can throw the empathy and inspiration in too, as long as the sense of reason is there.

  • No one’s prose better epitomizes reasoned discourse than yours, MUL.

  • By the way, MUL, sorry to disappoint, but Palin supported Steve Forbes (and had a job title in his campaign) back in ’96.

  • I notice how common it is for blog commenters to obsess over writing style. ck will tell you about the rantings of Ismail over at Jewcy on this topic if you ask him. But as long as we’re going to appeal to prose, let’s look at the actual words we use to express ourselves, shall we? Discourse, by definition, almost always refers to a discussion, which implies two or more participants to a verbal exchange. Anyone is free to dispute what I’ve said, and I’ll engage the reasons they give, either explicitly or implicitly, for doing so. I will do so on grounds that make full use of logic.

    I find such an approach to be an entirely reasoned one.

    As I said, reason does not require an emotion-free perspective of the world, or of any given topic, for that matter. The biggest fallacy in modern American thought is this retarded assumption that logic and emotion must somehow be mutually exclusive. But allow me to inquire as to why this assumption is allowed to go unchallenged.

    And, oh yeah, I’ll also use rhetorical devices in my utterings as well. No apologies about that either. And fully consistent with logical, reasoned discourse. Just ask Cicero.

  • Your assertion goes against those made by Buchanan himself, as well as Congressman Robert Wexler, at least as reported as of 5 hours ago today by ABC News. I cannot find more accurate or detailed sources for Palin’s previous endorsements through any of the usual channels, Tom. So if you don’t mind, a citation might be helpful. It would contribute greatly to reasoned discourse, which you seem to know something about.

  • Moderation at it again! (What is the optimal comment length for avoiding this, BTW?) My thoughts on reasoned discourse precede the comment above where I request a citation. You’ll have to wait for it, but come back to it when you get a chance. Comment #38. I think it’s pretty well-reasoned. 😉

  • Until a clarification comes in between Buchanan’s statements and Palin’s I’ll go with Buchanan’s. After all, he was honest enough to admit that no one intending to vote for Gore in 2000 would have also considered voting for him. That’s pretty honest, in my book.

    That’s also meant in a humorous spirit, not necessarily the best-reasoned one, for what it’s worth. 😉

  • That’s also true, BarNavi.

    Tom, if you really want to have a reasoned discussion or debate about how Palin represents a serious pick on McCain’s part, I’m up for it. As it stands, I’m having a hard time finding any commentary, let alone factual evidence, that supports such a view. Given all that, the ridicule that McCain is receiving seems entirely justified, and I have no qualms with taking part in that in the meantime. Well, at least in the meantime. If you like, I could also offer up a number of links to more sober conservative writers as evidence of what they make of all this, and it’s not pretty.

    It’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to avoid the conclusion that McCain, at least subconsciously, feels that he is utterly ridiculing Hillary Clinton with this pick. Maybe that has something to do with his premonition that he’ll have to live with her harping over him as one of the most powerful Senate majority leaders this country’s seen in modern history after his ass loses big time to her previous rival come November.

    Just some unreasoned discourse and standard issue boilerplate to throw at you. Not like I’ve been right before or anything.

  • Yes,,, I know it is HI and not HA, and after I posted and re proofed my post, I saw my error and tried to change it, but my computer skills are so poor, that I was unable to edit it. Plus I thought it was funny to say “HA” But I can assure you that as a person who worked in the direct mail industry for many years, I have all state, province, and U.S. territory codes memorized, and I am pretty good at SCF codes as well

  • I conceive this internet site has got some very wonderful info for everyone :D. “The ground that a good man treads is hallowed.” by Johann von Goethe.