Dorre, the numbers you stated for employee and budget was as mayor. Do you honestly beleive that the state of Alaska only has 50 employees? If you are going to argue against Sarah Palin, get you facts right.

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BTW, Luva… I did find that Chris Matthews was a former speech writer as well… just not sure if it was for Carter or Tip O’Neil. Thought that was his function, but wasn’t sure.

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Here’s a Sun-Times late 2007 article about BHO’s brief and not so experienced law career. Mostly did the background work of research and drafts. Intro’d clients and stepped aside to let the trial lawyers take over. Only one appearance in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that we know of.

And I’m unaware of any professorial status… honorary or whatever. He may have done some teaching, but then I don’t know about that section of his career.

They all have speech writers, including His Messiahship. Rarely do they discuss them… would ruin da image, ya know. Pat Buchanan was a speech writer for Nixon, for example. I know Chris Matthews worked for Carter, but don’t know if he was a speech writer. Many of them surface later in the game in other more prominent positions.

There’s usually a bank of ‘em on staff, but the one I know of for Obama is a young mid-20s guy named Jon Favreau, his head speech writer. There’s another two that I just found in a Jan 2008 NYTs article…. since you sent me on the hunt…. :0)

Mr. Favreau, or Favs, as everyone calls him, looks every bit his age, with a baby face and closely shorn stubble. And he leads a team of two other young speechwriters: 26-year-old Adam Frankel, who worked with John F. Kennedy’s adviser and speechwriter Theodore C. Sorensen on his memoirs, and Ben Rhodes, who, at 30, calls himself the “elder statesman” of the group and who helped write the Iraq Study Group report as an assistant to Lee H. Hamilton.

Obama did write his 2004 keynote speech at the DNC, but then he wasn’t as busy a guy then as he is now. But of course, I’m sure his following are convinced Obama sent that text message from his cell personally…. sigh.

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hey mata i got into an arguement with someone about obama’s speechs, they were convinced he did because he went to harvard(not sure what that has to do with it) and is a professor. it is my humble understanding that he has speech writers for his campaign, he may bounce ideas off of them bu they do the writting. i also thought the professor thing was more an honorary, once in a while kind of thing. did he ever actually practice law? are his credidentials for show?

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Lifted Obama’s talking points almost word for word, Jerry. Congrats on your memory ability. You too, Dorrie. Both of you … your cut and paste skills are just awesome. Did you even notice you’re both word for word?? Oops… the Obama sting team is out in force. A little originality in presentation would go a long way, ya know. Helps the “almost credible” bit.

Legislative experience (of which Obama has little but for his years in the IL Senate… he’s been campaigning for the majority of his first Congress stint) is completely different than executive experience. One writes laws… the other administers the business of keeping a community, county, state or the country running smoothly within the budget parameters their legislators dictate.

Obama has minions that run his campaign and staff for him. I laugh when people think he’s hi tech because he text messaged his VP choice. You don’t actually believe Obama typed that message himself at 3AM and sent it from his personal cell, do you? Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure he knows how to text. But just how much of his campaign do you think he actually administers? Hang, he’s even got speech writers. Do you think he oversees the production of his campaign stop? Plan his appearances at the DNC? I doubt he even laid out the interior of his personal O Force Zero.

And INRE the budget size, it isn’t the amount of zeros behind a number that matters in a budget. It’s the balance of income to debt, profit to loss. And we already know by Obama’s economic, energy and tax plan that math isn’t his forte.

Nice try… don’t fly.

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Dorrie, you have your talking points backwards, and you’re babbling, girl. Do allow me to clear the air for you.

Palin is on record that Pebble Mine will not be permitted if it will harm fisheries.

ADN: What is your current thinking on the Pebble Mine? Especially I am thinking of what you’ve said about the state needing to establish credibility nationally. There has been criticism of the previous administration for having partially dismantled some of the regulatory process that people are now looking to to make sure that Pebble can be done without harm to the fisheries.

PALIN: Right. Pebble is not going to be permitted if it is going to harm the fisheries, and when I was out in Bristol Bay, I heard both sides. I heard both sides the minute I walked into my mother-in-law’s house in Bristol Bay.

You know, we have family split on the issue and that is fascinating, but Pebble Mine will not be permitted on our watch if it adversely impacts the world’s richest salmon spawning grounds, a renewable resource that has sustained western Alaska for generations. … But we can’t go in there with a preconceived notion that Pebble Mine should or shouldn’t be permitted.

They have not applied for all of their permits. The (Environmental Impact Statement) has not been presented. I will not judge the project and I will not ask DNR or DEC or any of the overseeing agencies to judge it until all of the information is in.

When she met with the mine officials, she made them quite aware of the same:

“The governor made a point of reminding them that we do have a high standard to protect our fisheries,” Palin assistant Joe Balash said after the meeting. “They acknowledged that they understand it and are prepared to make the challenge.”

The opponents and proponents have battled it out over Measure 4… a ballot measure meant to halt the mine prior to permits, proposals and studies. The measure lost, 52-52%.

Now, let’s talk your boy, Obama. From the same link INRE the measure voting, plus at Digital Journal. Turns out he opposed Measure 4.. which would halt Pebble Mine. DOH!

Barack Obama and Fairbanks, Alaska Mayor Jim Whitaker have one thing in common: they oppose Proposition 4 which would ban large metal mines from discharging large amounts of toxic chemicals into salmon streams and drinking water supplies.

~~~

If approved, the Pebble mine will be the largest mine in North America with an approximate size of 28 square miles. A large power plant will have to be constructed to provide power for the mine. For more specific and detailed information about mine waste and water usage, go to http://www.eyeonpebblemine.org

What does this have to do with Obama? He knows that the presidential race is close and Democrats need to make inroads into Alaska. Actually, they want to be competitive in Idaho and Nevada as well. Obama became friends with miners in those states during the primary season by opposing statutory amendments to the 1872 General Mining Law.

~~~

Western lawmakers have regularly blocked any changes to the General Mining Law of 1872. Mining companies, including foreign owned ones, have been able to extract billions of dollars worth of minerals from federal lands royalty free.

Obama opposed a bill in the House of Representatives that was proposed in late 2007 that would have charged a royalty of 4 percent of gross revenue on existing mining operations and an 8 percent tax on new hard-rock mining operations. New environmental controls would’ve been imposed on hard-rock mining, a permanent ban would have been placed on cheap sales of public land for mining and a cleanup fund would have been put into place for abandoned mines.

Obama opposed it because he said that it would have a significant impact on jobs. he hopes that environmentalists in Alaska and nationwide will forget about this. Mining interests in Alaska have contributed more money to the ”Vote No to Ballot Initiative 4” than contributions to either presidential candidate.

Obama has awarded Fairbanks Mayor Whitaker with an invitation to the Denver, Colorado Democratic National Convention in exchange for his endorsement of the campaign. Is this ”change we can believe in” or just another example of the old style politics of one hand washing the other? You can decide this for yourself.

By the way, Whitaker is a Republican.

You may have to chew on that one for awhile, eh? This obviously doesn’t fit into your automatic assumptions.

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Here is a fine example of resume inflation.:

Obama has twelve years of legislative experience–8 in the state, 4 federal. He also has a law degree and was a constitutional law professor. As gov. she had 50 employees. Obama’s campaign has 2500. Her budget as gov. per year of about 12 million is a third of Obama’s budget per month on the campaign. She is on tape saying that she doesn’t know what the VP does. She opposes choice even when the health of the women is at stake.

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Ummm, Dorie….

Check out Pebble Mine a little more. Northern Dynasty doesn’t even finish the environmental studies until TWO THOUSAND TEN (2010).

It’s still 2008. The Pebble Mine doesn’t exist, yet, other than on paper.

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Look at the pictures of the sludge run off into the fishing areas and drinking water near Pebble Mine. Palin’s husband is big oil and she is an anti-environmentalist.

Obama has twelve years of legislative experience–8 in the state, 4 federal. He also has a law degree and was a constitutional law professor. As gov. she had 50 employees. Obama’s campaign has 2500. Her budget as gov. per year of about 12 million is a third of Obama’s budget per month on the campaign. She is on tape saying that she doesn’t know what the VP does. She opposes choice even when the health of the women is at stake.

But oh yeah, she’s a hockey mom. Let’s give her the red phone!

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RE: the “creationist” thing? That’s been debunked. She does not want to have it taught in science class (her dad was a science teacher!), she said that if it is brought up in class via the students their debate shouldn’t be shut down. She sees no problem with all sorts of information explored in the class.

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