Sarah Palin Says Inflation Coming

[MediumTex]

Oh boy, anyone see Sarah Palin on Napolitano's FoxNews show?

Listening to her talk about the problems with the Fed's policy reminds me of how I feel when i hear Barbra Streisand talk politics.

I feel sorry for Palin sometimes because she seems so oblivious to how dumb she sounds when she talks.  Then I think about her being President and my pity turns to fear.

There are plenty of people I disagree with who don't scare me, but Sarah Palin's unique mix of ignorance and charisma makes me uneasy.

If there are any Palin fans out there, I would like to hear the case for why she might make a great leader someday, because I just don't get it.  If I didn't know better I would think that Palin was some kind of undercover Democratic agent whose goal was to discredit Republicans.

[Jan Van]

Hey Tex, I though you lived in TEXAS?  ;D

Actually, so do I...

Sarah Palin is the reason I terminated my Facebook account. When you read that a "friend" is now fan of  Sarah Palin, that is for me "too much information". And time to go...
Some people say they like her because she's "like them". The whole soccer mom thang. That's all fine and dandy with me, but why would I want somebody "like me" to be president? I rather vote for somebody I have the idea that is much smarter than me. Else I would just run for president myself. Well, if I could. Which I can't. Senator maybe?

[Coffee]

I'm a "Tea Party" person.  And I'll agree with you: Most of the time, she sounds like an idiot. 

But let's be honest: So did Reagan.

So, the question becomes: Would you rather have a genius I.Q. in the White House, with leftist ideas about the economy?  Or a "Jane Sixpack" who has the right positions on most issues, but has to write her talking points on her hand?

Crummy choices, I know. 

I'm hoping the fat guy from N.J. runs. 

[Storm]

I get the same feeling watching her, MediumTex.  For some reason it reminds me of the high school cheerleading captain that decided to run for student body president.  Everyone kind of nods and agrees with her because she's so cute, even though we're all thinking she's dumb as rocks as she answers the debate questions.

I think the leader of the free world should be someone intelligent that has a good knowledge of foreign policy, not someone that thinks they can see Russia from their front door.

[Lone Wolf]

When evaluating politicians (not my favorite breed of individual), I'm personally most concerned about the ones that work to steal my liberty at the fastest rate or do economically unwise things (usually in tandem.)

Consider first that the current occupant of the White House thought that borrowing and then wasting one trillion dollars we can't afford to "stimulate ourselves" was a good idea.  Consider that this person drafted a monstrous government health care takeover and shoved it down the throats of an unwilling public (one that includes a provision requiring a 1099 filing for trading a single gold coin.)  And consider that this individual drones about stocks possessing favorable "profit-and-earnings ratios".

Then consider that the previous occupant of the White House talked of "abandoning free market principles in order to save the free market" (destroy the village in order to save it?)  Consider that this person also thought we could endlessly expand entitlements (Medicare Part D), stimulate ourselves out of trouble and bail everybody out.  And consider that this individual pursued weak dollar policies for eight years.

With this backdrop in place, I find a politician (now a private citizen) that rightly criticizes Ben Bernanke and QE2 and goes right up to the line of advocating non-enforcement of marijuana use in the home to be a pleasant change of pace.  Which of her positions on the topic of QE2 do you find to be stupid?  For example, setting aside every politician with "Paul" in their name, rarely has a politician criticized "print-n-spend" policies this forcefully or coherently.  I wish more politicians would advocate for a strong dollar.  I wish more would call out the long-term futility of depreciating currency to temporarily juice exports in some kind of horrid race to the bottom.  And while I know you don't believe that interest rates are going up any time soon, it's undeniable that we are going to be in a real debt-repayment mess if they do.

Given all that, when I'm prioritizing my ire, Sarah Palin is going to be waaaay at the bottom of the list.  We are talking about politicians, so we have to grade on the curve.  They ain't all gonna be Harry Browne.  Instead, we've currently got Keynesian madmen pulling the economic levers and TSA workers inspecting my fine junk every time I board an airplane.

I think the leader of the free world should be someone intelligent that has a good knowledge of foreign policy, not someone that thinks they can see Russia from their front door.

This is a Tina Fey line from SNL, not a Sarah Palin quote.  Incredible that it still floats in the collective consciousness as an actual quote (I see it referenced constantly.)  The actual statement was that you can see Russia from Alaska, which, while surprising, is completely true.  The close proximity of Russia and Alaska has fascinated me since I was a child so it was amazing to see it become a political football back in '08.

[Pkg Man]

I'm with Lone Wolf on this one.  Palin is FAR removed from my top choices for Presidential candidates, but I didn't find anything she said about monetary policy to be crazy (although I did not see her on FOX, so perhaps I missed something).  I also think that she was the victim of a good hatchet job by the media.  She's definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but probably not too far from the average politician either.

[Jan Van]

She's definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but probably not too far from the average politician either.

Which is in and of itself a sad situation...

LoneWolf, by goverment takeover of healthcare, do you mean situations like these?
http://www.kpho.com/news/25811486/detail.html ("Ariz. Man Denied Life-Saving Liver Transplant
State Medicaid Plan Won't Cover His Procedure")

[Storm]

We're getting dangerously close to a political discussion here.

Part of the reason that I enjoy this board is that regardless of the fact that we might not have the same world views, everyone has an extremely civil discourse and we try to keep politically heated conversations out of the forum.

I can go to other boards if I want to hear "Owebama this" and "Shrub that."

I really appreciate the fact that we are all mature adults here and don't need to get into the political mud together.

[Jan Van]

That's why it is in the "Other Discussions" part of this board :-)
Political conversation aren't necessarily bad. As you say, Storm, as long as we're all civil...

Personally I find it interesting to hear the opinions from this group of people on subjects like Sarah Palin...

[Lone Wolf]

Good call on that one, Storm!  People most likely came here to talk about the Permanent Portfolio... not to read the half-baked political thoughts of some libertarian man-child such as myself!

I say we just blame the whole thing on MediumTex and\or Sarah Palin and absolve ourselves of all responsibility for any indiscretions contained in this thread.

[LNGTERMER]

Well said Storm, I think all of us appreciate liberty, personal responsibility and strive to improve ones lot in life. That is evident in our common attraction to the PP. When it comes to politics however am not sure we all share the same view. I am in the camp that prefers some sort of minimum social net. One will never know when he/she might need it for whatever reason also showing compassion to the unfortunate among us. Having said that I do respect those who do not share that view and instead rather no roll for government in social affairs. Not sharing the same political view is fine so long we are civil and respectful as we have been so far.

[Storm]

I take responsibility as well for my part in it.  I think Craig said somewhere that it is difficult to separate politics from discussions of investing, since politicians can change the investment world significantly by the policies they create.

I find myself conflicted personally - I like a lot of libertarian policies, but I also believe we need a social safety net.  I guess I am a libertarian socialist, is there such a thing? 

[LNGTERMER]

I find myself conflicted personally - I like a lot of libertarian policies, but I also believe we need a social safety net.  I guess I am a libertarian socialist, is there such a thing?

I know what you mean, I find myself as a hybrid of libertarian and progressive if that makes any sense. I actually enjoy these kinds of discussions specially when they are articulated well. I might not necessarily agree with it but often I learn something.  Of course if it is not civil, imposing or overly self righteous I am turned off. So far I find our collective spirit very positive and I thank all for keeping our forum as such.

[Jan Van]

I find myself conflicted personally - I like a lot of libertarian policies, but I also believe we need a social safety net.  I guess I am a libertarian socialist, is there such a thing?

Same here. As far as that social safety net goes, yeah, well, I was Dutch before I was a US citizen. Should explain a lot. So i'm all for that.
Or like the bank bailouts. On the one hand maybe i'm happy because I still have a 401k that's worth something. On the other hand I'm thinking that they should have let them all fail. Problem is, we'll never know how that would have worked out. But I like to hear people opine about it. And I feel that in this particular forum that's actually possible without getting out of hand...

[MediumTex]

I am going to lock this thread.  I wouldn't do this if someone else had started it, but since it was me I hope this won't upset anyone.

I am in agreement with the sentiment that what makes this forum good is its original content.  One more jab at Sarah Palin is hardly original.

My apologies if my Palin comments were offensive to anyone.