Wake up America! The debate is an audition for VP of the U.S., not a waitress job at Hooters!

[bulloney]

Since the VP debate, I've been around some circles of people who were just charmed by Sarah Palin's performance. They said nothing about the content of her remarks. They just loved her folksy language and that winking she kept giving the camera.

And that's why we had an idiot like Dubya in the White House for the past 8 years. It all stems from the dumbing down of America, thanks in part to RW talk radio and other media.

[lostnotforgotten]

1. I Heard That Palin's Next Debate Could Be Jello Wrestling

eom

[opihimoimoi]

2. YUP....dats whot we been saying...Palin ain't shit and should be rejected

for spouting crap on TV.

[peacetalksforall]

3. We had the deadly drone, Cheney and the clown Bush. If R's win it will be

the deadly drone, Cheney, and two clowns. Bomb bomb bomb Iran and Guys .... and Gals.

[peacetalksforall]

4. Do you think she winked when she knew her husband wasn't looking.

I think the jello wrestling should be scheduled following the caribou shoot.

[RC]

5. The Caribou shoot from a small plane?

Or the staged one in the enclosed area?

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Doesn't Hooters have an upper age limit?

And isn't Palin considerably past it?

[Missy Vixen]

17. That's a good question

You might also want to bear in mind that while I detest Sarah Palin and what she stands for, I'm 48. There are a lot of other over-40 women who read and comment here as well. We vote. We also don't care to be marginalized and ignored because we're over 40.

Julie

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. The majority of people know she's not qualified. Palin will fade into obscurity.

[orleans]

8. are you kidding? sarah just invited america over to her house

for a little pot-luck. (bring a dish to pass)

[ikojo]

9. Most Americans don't care about substance

hence why George W has served two terms.

The US has an anti intellectual culture. Look at how smart kids are marginalized in many schools by being called eggheads, Einstein (I know I was seen as odd because I actually enjoyed reading books for fun.).

[eowyn_of_rohan]

11. I'm sick of hearing such criticisms of Americans

In case you haven't been paying attention, the last two Presidentioal elections were stolen by a combination of e-voting corruption and voter disenfranchisement. Therefore, to state that "most" Americans voted for bu$h cannot be assumed as fact.

To say most Americans don't care about substance is a stereotypical generalization which if applied to a particular race or gender would be considered unacceptable in most circles-- including here on DU.

BTW, I am pro-intellectual as are most of the people I know.

[Realityhack]

15. No it is actualy fairly factual.

The average American didn't even turn out to vote in the last election.
If you look at what the average American cares about it IS style over substance. This is well established.
And it is slightly different than other populations.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

I believe you're wrong. Although the elections were stolen, in 2004 Kerry should have won

by a landslide after Shrub was already a dismal failure in his first 4 years. They couldn't have stolen that many votes.

There is a sizable population in our country that is severely anti-intellectual and yes, they want to have a President or Vice President that they can sit down and have a beer with. They are, what Shrub has been accused of, totally incurious. The stupidity of these people are a result of the dumbing down of America. That Mission has really been accomplished.

BTW... Although Obama's poll numbers are getting stronger every day, those numbers are going to have to be in the double digits across the board to prevent yet one more election from being stolen.

[alarimer]

18. They only stole it because it was close.

Turnout was only about 50% (that's really all it ever is). So close to half the voting age population does not vote. And if they were smart, they wouldn't have fallen for Bush's "Aw, shucks" bullshit. But they are not and they did fall for it. There are a lot of books out there documenting the dumbing down of the US, including Al Gore's Assault on Reason and Susan Jacoby's latest. There is a vast anti-intellectual streak in this country and it is just stupid. People do vote emotionally and not by the issues or based on reason. That has been well-documented.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

19. Exactly and the poster that I was responding doesn't seem to "get" that.

Our founding fathers recognized this could be the case and created a Democratic Republic because they didn't trust the people. Unfortunately, they didn't know back then how dismal it would be now, or they probably would have framed a far different Constitution.

[misanthrope]

20. Had telecommunications existed then...

...in the form it does now, they would certainly have been disheartened.

So many here decried my statements on Thursday night that Palin's debate performance was far more effective than the DU denizens would care to admit, but it's true.

Face it, two cast members of the mindless action flick "Predator" have since ascended to governorships of states, one that boasts the fifth largest economy in the world. We are well on our way to "idiocracy."

[eowyn_of_rohan]

21. I get it. I just hate to accept it,

I see and hear these idiots on TV, and read their idiotic opinions on the web, and the MCCain yardsigns mark the dwellings of ignorant fools , etc and etc. I just don't want to believe they are the majority and I really don't think we should assume they are.

I am in denial because it is too painful and disgusting for me to accept

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

25. I don't know if it's true of most Americans

but I think there's long been an anti-intellectual attitude in our schools on the part of many students. Girls and boys who like to study and who are the most active participants in a classroom are often put down as nerds or geeks by the others. Cheerleaders and jocks are celebrated as the role models. I think there's far too much time devoted to sports in American schools and to dances and other festivities. I've been able to make the comparison. I went to a European country for one entire school year in the 1960s and saw how it is in their public high schools. There were no words such as nerds and geeks. There were no dances. There were no school sports teams. High schoolers were treated more like adults and allowed to drink wine or beer in the cafeteria and expected to know their limits (and if they acted up, they were given up to three warnings, after which they were summarily expelled). The grading system was very tough and you had to study very hard to keep up. I would say that half the class had repeated a grade because being failed is a common practice in a public school system in Europe and if you don't like it, they encourage you to drop out and join a trade school if you're not there to give 100% of your time to your studies. If you wanted to have a party or a dance with kids your own age, you had to do it outside of school. If you wanted to participate in sports, you joined an after-school athletic club. High school wasn't considered a dating service. And the kids who got the best grades were respected by their peers far more than they are respected in the U.S.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

26. I appreciate your perspective

and understand what you are saying. It's just so very sad, as it didn't used to be like this in America. I am getting too old, I guess.

[Uncle Joe]

12. I believe a large percentage of Americans are conditioned by their traditional information

sources and a subconscious desire to be part of an "in crowd", the corporate media know this and use it against the people, by brain washing them and for a sizable percent, it works.

The "average" people live surreptitiously through mythic roles in which the corporate media promote, to serve corporate interests, not the people's interests. The corporate media made the average man feel powerful, by enabling Bush to power, I believe they're doing the same thing today for the average woman.

I also believe this is why substantive issues are rarely analyzed in depth, the corporate media continually reinforce a message, that the people don't care about substance, I believe in some respects this like telling a small child, they're shy all the time, eventually the child comes to believe it.

The people are being shortchanged and dumbed down, but I believe this situation will change one way or another and any political party or corporate media entity standing in the way, will go away.

[Ikonoklast]

10. I know a waitress at Hooters

Friend of my daughters, she's known her since the first grade and played on sports teams with her through high school.

She's a PhD working on her Masters in early childhood education. Very smart young lady.

And she's a Hooters waitress.


She is eminently more qualified, based on her education and intelligence, to be Vice President of the United States than that fraud from Alaska.

[old mark]

23. Palin is not smart enough to be a good waitress. nt

[Xenotime]

13. Yup. Give the people a pretty face, a pair of tits and a wink...

and they will buy into anything.

[leftofthedial]

14. personally, I would WAY rather have beer with a Hooter's waitress

than with a VP

Love,
Joe Six Pack

[TexasObserver]

16. Bubbles thinks she's head cheerleader and this is a Cheerocracy.

[donco6]

22. No one I know liked it.

Even my right-leaning collegue told me today at a Homecoming pep rally: "She's trailer trash. She's like that mom in 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' who had the beer can stuck to her hand." She's definitely not voting for her.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. Hooters? Don't you mean Shooters?