Why do you dislike/hate Sarah Palin?

Fair enough, we don't know any politician personally so we have to go by what policies and issues their opinions best reflect our own views upon.

If you felt she left you out of her definition of American, then I can understand why you would be opposed to her. But understand also that there are many of us who feel left out of Obama's vision for America. Those of us who would prefer to see a president who shares our values and supports the Constitution. He may be including many groups, but he hasn't included those who believe that the Constitution of the United States is the ultimate authority.

Well, I would naturally expect you to ask me such a ridiculous question as to whether I would expect him to uphold a version of the Constitution without the amendments that guarantee civil rights to all citizens regardless of ethnicity. It appears that most people believe you can't disagree with Obama unless you are a racist, but let's drop that insulting red herring of suggested racism and move on to the real issues. Obama has said that the Constitution "reflected the fundamental flaw of this country that continues to this day.” He believes the Constitution is deeply flawed and so is this country that he has taken on the leadership of. I don't know why he would swear to uphold any document that is fundamentally flawed in his opinion. You rightly cite the Supreme Court as interpreting the Constition in Roe v Wade but err in saying that perhaps Obama interprets the Constitution differently than I may. Obama's job as president is not to interpret the Constitution, and it is this very blurring of the lines and bypassing of the system of checks and balances that I disagree with so strongly. He has ruled by executive order in setting up "czars" that answer only to him and in firing independent Inspector Generals that were investigating people and issues close to him. He has stepped far beyond the scope of the job of president to take over auto manufacturers, to regulate compensation of employees in private businesses and is currently seeking the expansion of the powers of the Federal Reserve so that they may exert power over other businesses. The government should not own the banking industry, but banks seeking to return TARP money have been denied that right and therefore come under the control of government. None of these powers are given to the president by the Constitution. Obama has stated that the Supreme Court and the Constitution have not gone far enough: "But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society." Redistribution of wealth... umm, that's communism, not the United States of America. He also doesn't like the fact that the Constitution prevents government from running your life: "...generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can't do to you. Says what the federal government can't do to you..." These are direct quotes from Obama himself. It may very well astonish you as it should astonish anyone to know that the president of this nation so strongly opposes the fundamental principles upon which this nation was founded. Again I say, Obama does not believe in the Constitution of the United States. His vision for America is not the one that most Americans have, and is not the one I have. I don't believe people meant to elect someone who has such serious doubts about the foundations of the country he represents or who holds the Constitution in such contempt.

Hmmmm, I don't really understand your point about Obama not upholding the Constitution. That's a pretty big accusation to be delivered in a relative vacuum. Obama swore to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution. I don't think any president has ever taken that oath lightly--not even those with whom I had profound disagreements. Keep in mind that the Constitution is a living document subject to interpretation and change. For example, the Constitution as it was first ratified defined a slave as 3/5ths of a human being. It made no allowance for women as free and equal citizens, and even many free white males did not meet property requirements to vote for elected officials. Is that the version of the Constitution you would ask any modern president to uphold? Obama is, in fact, a Constitutional scholar with sound academic credentials, including as a law professor at the University of Chicago Law School. His interpretation of the Constitution may differ from yours, but it is still very much within the broad main stream of American opinion--that including legal, academic, and even public opinion. Take just one example of the issue of constitutional interpretation: abortion rights. By the deliberation and opinions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court, the right to privacy under the Constitution has been determined to include the right of a woman to seek an abortion. As we all know, there are many extinuating circumstances, conditions, exceptions, and moral complexities associated with the issue of abortion. But in the final analysis, based on the implications of your statement above, anyone who opposes abortion could be said to be failing to support the Constitution. No matter one's opionion about abortion, that would be a great leap indeed. All that being said, what makes you think Obama doesn't honor and uphold the Constitution? I am generally not surprised by political arguments, but that one fairly astonished me.

Taskr, don't call me a liar please. How many times during the campaign did she speak of how nice it was to be with "real Americans" or in the "pro-American" area? Forgive me if I don't have her exact words but she did use phrases like "real", "pro" and "anti" in reference to areas of the U.S. and people in the U.S. Am I lying when I say we're all REAL Americans whether we live in the north, south, east, west or the middle of the country and whether we're in a city, in the suburbs in a small town or in the country? EVEN - gasp!! - if we live somewhere that usually votes Democratic? In my opinion, which I still have a right to, Sarah Palin alienated anyone who didn't agree with her and I don't think she really wanted to "lead" everyone in the nation but only those who she considered to be "real" Americans and that was one reason I came to dislike her. Annie

"I get the distinct impression that for all her claims of "loving America" she really can't stand the parts of America that she's actually called "anti" or "non" American." She's never called any part of America "anti" or "non" American. That's a lie. Of course I'm sure you already know that.

Well, in my opinion a real American would be someone who believes in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and supports the ideals and principles that this nation was founded upon. I probably wouldn't call anyone anti-American but I might find myself not including them in my real American definition if they were interested in turning my country into something it was never meant to be, such as a socialist state or a country where citizens were not entitled to the freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Good thing I can't wink, though. I can't whistle, either. I don't think people here should call other people names for the opinions they hold and it's wrong if you have had such nasty appellations as "child abuser" thrown at you Annie. We don't agree on much, politically, but spirited debate is where truth can be found if we are willing to see how our own opinions and ideas stand up to challenges from others. Basically, I just disagree with all the emotion. I want people to give me facts and the question was to find out the real reasons people feel the way they do about Sarah Palin. Unfortunately, a lot of it is as I suspected. I keep hearing about her being "backwards" and "backwoods" and "folksy" and I really think there is a lot of prejudice there from people. This is to me, is anti-American. What I wanted to know was what specific issues and views made people dislike her so intensely.

Oh .... they HATE her. They really hate the woman. I don't believe I've seen anything quite like in my lifetime.

I didn't label anyone, I simply asked a question. I did a quick search of mylot discussions and came up with several conversations about Sarah Palin that used words like "can't stand" her and called her ignorant, corrupt and stupid. I feel this is a feeling of hatred, but perhaps I am wrong. I did give the option of dislike as an atttitude. So, there are at least two words to choose from in answering this question. You point out that she agreed to reimburse some monies for trips upon which she took her children but you do fail to mention that the majority of the ethics complaints against her have been unfounded and unsupported. A couple of them you say, she was "within state guidelines". Okay, just to be clear on that, "within state guidelines" means innocent, not guilty and not having broken any law. If the speed limit on a road is 25 mph and you are going 24mph you are within state guidelines, or rather, you aren't guilty of breaking any law. To say she's technically within state guidelines is a very slanted way of trying to make her sound guilty of something. So, let's be fair. She hasn't committed any major corrupt acts, and yet she's been forced into a $500,000 debt in order to prove that. And it wasn't a couple of charges she was found to be not guilty of, there's been 15 separate complaints. If that were you, and you were continuously having to go to court to defend yourself against maliciously filed complaints, you would certainly feel that justice was being perverted while you go into debt to protect your good name against those who simply dislike you enough to keep you in court for no proved reason. I can't respond to the allegations that others are investigating less substantial activities of others without any examples. And once again, I didn't label anyone. I asked a question. When I write a discussion that cites people by name, then I will be labeling them.

My theory: I know little about her political life. I was going to vote for McCain simply because I abhorred the idea of voting for Obama. What I get passionate about (sorry if I'm one of those you speak of) is the way she has been maligned and hated for the very same things or less ..than the man that got elected. And his lack of character, his lying, his apologizing and his spending...can destroy our country. As VP (if she'd been elected) she would have, if she was found to be lacking in character....merely an embarrassment. I believe that she is being hounded and maligned because she was seen as a viable (threat) candidate in 2012 and had to be eliminated as such. As for other's passion against her....perhaps they know more than I...but what are they proving by slandering her kids? Nothing, except their own fear. The other reason for people hating her...it's very PC to hate Republicans. Another, maybe a woman who can look good and hunt meat for her family is more of a threat to them than a President who will have my great grandkids in debt....if the Iranians don't blow up the world before they get a chance to be born.

For the record, she campaigned on being FOR the Bridge to Nowhere but changed her mind when it started to gain so much notoriety. They're still building the ROAD to nowhere that was going to lead to the Bridge to Nowhere! Annie

So she cancelled it when she realized it was a bad idea. Still think that's a good idea. Better than going forward with something when it turns out that it would be disastrous. I want politicians to keep their campaign promises, but not if circumstances later show that doing so would create a worse situation. It's important to do what is right, when it is right.

One of the most important things Palin did as governor was to stand up to the oil companies and raise taxes on them, despite falling oil prices. Alaskans dividend checks from the oil resources in their states went up, over $3000 per person. They pay no state income tax or sales tax. Sounds good to me. She was also working to get the pipeline for natural gas built so that Alaskans could benefit from their natural gas resources, but refused to allow the Bridge to Nowhere that Ted Stevens was so infamously involved in. I don't think you can say she skimmed and leeched. Alaskans personally profited from having her in office. I doubt they would like being labeled backwards, though.

"and much better looking than any of her counterparts on the other side of the party line. No wonder they hate her..." Yes, I feel that perhaps if she weren't so pretty that more females would like her better. Sorry, but that's my impression of the situation. On the negative side, I have to say that I don't like the folksiness that much either. I think that if she tries to make a run for the presidency that she needs to work with someone on that aspect of her speech. Leave out most of the winking and the "you betchas". She needs to sound more stately and polished, more presidential sounding. But that's just my opnion.

The left do like to think they are snappier, smarter and more fashionable than the rest of us, lol. I hear her "folksy" manner as being a trait that people dislike. Hey guys, she's from Alaska, the last American pioneer. That pioneer spirit still lives there and that's a good thing. We don't need more bigots in government, we need more people who understand the concerns of regular citizens. Yet she is fashionable, clever, accomplished and much better looking than any of her counterparts on the other side of the party line. No wonder they hate her...

I think the problem with the folksiness as far as Palin goes was that it came across as contrived and phoney. The winking was inappropriate for a woman expecting to be taken seriously and the "you betcha"s seemed staged. Mike Huckabee also came across as being folksy, too, but he gave the impression of being more genuine.

I don't disagree with you but I can see some of those points from both sides. I think politics is still being run in the old ways by some of the same old players and might still be a "boys game" in some respects. But the best way to change and challenge that is to have female politicians that don't see their job as anything but to do their job. Competence is key. I would like to disagree with you regarding Americans' knowledge of geography but I can't. It's woefully inadequate and that's a problem of the educational system. So, another debate for another time. But I don't think we can make assumptions about her intellect, since as someone else pointed out, she graduated with honors from college and has a degree. What we might easily conclude is that in times of stress and unused to national attention, one may make blunders. For instance, Obama said he'd been to all 57 states and Nancy Pelosi said we lost 500 million jobs per month when there are only 300 million people in the country. How much attention these blunders get depends a lot on the media. I certainly wouldn't want them filming and then replaying every one of my stumbles on national television. I could expect only one opinion to be formed from that. I agree that it is difficult to be a working mother, no matter what your job is. But isn't the feminist ideal to be able to say that women should be able to have it all? This assumes that only men can have jobs and family, because they have a wife to take care of that messy family business while they do something important. Now JFK was young with a young wife and young children and managed to deal with the office of president, the promotion of the space program, several mistresses and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Certainly, we should expect a woman to have the same rights to a personal life and a professional one without making such a chauvinist statement as thinking she might push the big button cause she got frazzled. Wow, that's really politically incorrect. Historically, having the world fear that our president is a nuclear bomb throwing madman has worked in our favor. Remember Reagan? The world believed the liberal press about him and immediately Iran released the hostages, the Berlin wall came down, etc. Not really a bad idea to make them think we mean business. If they think we will lie down to be stepped on, they will put on their big boots.

There was some kind of controversy about a racist comment that was supposedly overheard by a waitress at a restaurant in Alaska. Something about Palin saying something about Obama's race, I think. She supposedly said it at a table full of people but the only person who is complaining about it is the waitress. No one else has come forth and collaborated the waitress' story. Most people who don't like Palin are going to believe the waitress ..... whether there is any proof or not.

My father was Canadian, so I don't want to make any enemies across the border but I have to say that I am less concerned about what Canada needs in a US president than what the citizens of the US need in their president. Folksy is not a female fancy, she's from a folksy place. I don't think she's ignorant, and it may be her manner irritates you, but it doesn't make her ignorant. Who is she bigoted against? As of the last poll, 41% of Americans consider themselves conservative, so if she's playing to the right, she's playing to a large section of the population. I would prefer not to be considered ignorant and bigoted just because I disagree with our current president. I would be willing to set up some kind of presidential/pm exchange with Canada. I would prefer Stephen Harper, actually. You can have Obama.

The only reference I came across for this waitress was that it was a character in a movie. No one has come forward because it isn't true. When it comes to Sarah Palin the haters will go to any length even if it takes a trip to Blockbuster.

I know she has been made into a clown-faced punching bag in the media, and I know that there are many people who would consider Palin being on the ticket a good enough reason to vote for the other candidate. I just want to know why, and it may not have to do with her politics at all. I agree that the attacks on her and her family are the most venomous and vile ones that I have ever seen in the media. I think Richard Nixon got better press after Watergate.

"I agree that the attacks on her and her family are the most venomous and vile ones that I have ever seen in the media. I think Richard Nixon got better press after Watergate." Well I wasn't around back then, but I can easily say she's been treated worse than Rod Blagojevich and even Sanford. I couldn't believe that on The View those women actually flirted with and felt up Blagojevich as though he were Obama yet acted as though Palin was a pariah.

Perhaps people are intimidated by a woman who can look good...and hunt meat for her family...and have character and back bone as well.

Shouldn't we be above all this by now and now discriminate against people simply because they are not ugly enough?

you're right. i do apologize if i offended a supporter of ms. palin but it is quite believing how the media tries (or unconsciously try) to portray her. it has been a long time since they had one like her to treat that way. it's not like i like the media being mean to a public person. it's just that am fascinated by that machine (media) which can make or break a person forever. sometimes it makes you think of the real person behind that person we see or what the media lets us see.

Gosh, I really loved Maggie. Palin seems to bring out very emotional responses in people. Luckily, I never get emotional.

eek. thatcher is one of the few that i have an emotional response to - probably because i was a child when she did all that harm and children tend to respond emotionally to everything.

or agree with - just read the contribution above

Can you explain to me why you attack her for bringing her children on stage, but you have no problem with McCain or Obama doing the exact same thing? Why was it ok for Obama to do a TV special where his daughters were interviewed? Do you also think that Obama has not put his children first? As for the "see Russia from her house", it's just unfortunate that her opponents can't distinguish her from Tina Fey.

Palin canceled Alaska's support for the "Bridge to Nowhere". It wasn't her project, it was included in the federal budget by former Senator Ted Stevens, who was indicted.

Hello Taskr36, I really didn't respond to the original post to start or continue a debate, but to merely express my opinion to the first question by the myLot member who started the discussion. However, since you asked... For one I do not think Obama has exposed his daughters to the media the same way SP has, they were only on a TV news special show, etc. McCain's daughter, that is another matter. And I would like to think we both, as well as countless others are aware of what SP has been doing to her "kids". BTW, what is YOUR take on this matter? And as for the Russian window & Tina Fey comment... it might still be live from our internet browsers... but it's NOT Saturday nite now. *smiles* Tis Monday early AM where I am, and u too.. tis true? *winks, waves and wishes ya a good eve/morn/sleep*... Cheers, firefox333

Heck, at this point I would rather have Hillary in the White House than Obama. At least she is driven by self-aggrandizement and not socialist ideology.

Wow, you sure do buy every line you hear I guess. Forrest Gump was mentally challenged, Sarah Palin was an honors student and has a college degree. You don't have any clue what her IQ is and I'd say at worst it's still above average or she wouldn't have been an honors student. FYI, Bush has an MBA from Harvard. I don't think people with below average IQs get those often. If you think she's someone you have to worry about being from an oil state you really should look at her record with the oil companies. In fact, you really should look at every candidate's record instead of making snap judgments based on their accent or home state.

It's interesting to me that the people who voted for Obama because he was going to change the concept of "Washington politics as usual" voted for the guy who was already part of Washington politics and show such contempt for the one candidate who really was a breath of fresh air from the American countryside. It's naive to think that anyone who is already part of the system is going to change the way the system works. Palin stood up to the oil companies in Alaska, raising taxes on them and providing larger dividends to the Alaskan citizens as well as raising sufficient revenue that Alaska has no need of a state income tax or sales tax. She does believe in drilling and even in getting Alaska's natural gas resources delivered to the lower 48, but for the good of the citizens of that state. She believes that Alaskans deserve to benefit from those resources, not just the big oil and gas companies. They are going to get those resources, Palin was just making sure that the people of Alaska didn't get screwed while the big oil and gas companies exploited their resources.

Rollo, there were also folks who voted not so much for Obama but against McCain because of Palin. I've said it before and I'll continue to say it...I would have voted for McCain if he had chosen someone else for the V.P. slot. I was not confident in Palin's abilitly to run this country if something happened to him, she showed herself to be a loose cannon during the campaign...there was friction within the campaign itself...and her "in your face" attitude and ugly rallies put many people off.