Sarah Palin’s Commander-In-Chief Experience

Further proof that McCain's choice of Palin was a panic pick... first he said that her lack of foreign policy experience didn't matter now he's lying about her lack of foreign policy experience to make it look like she has some.....

It turns out that Palin is also an ex-POW. According to this:

www.itsnottrue.com/imtotallymakingthisup.html

In a hazing incident during her basketball days, Sarah Barracuda was once stuffed in a gym locker and held prisoner by her fellow Lady Warriors for over an hour.

Okay, I made it up. But considering what amazing ludicrousness has already been trotted out as presumably serious evidence of her fitness to serve as Commander in Chief, I'm sure this would qualify.

LOL. I can't believe I clicked on that link.

Nice job GreenDreams ;-)

The link is as valid as saying that ANY governor is experienced in foreign wars by virtue of being in charge of their national guard. They ARE in charge of authorizing deployment locally, or even to neighboring states in case of a civic emergency, but neither she nor any other governor is commanding the troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan (where they shouldn't be in the first place) and it's just a silly argument.

As with all governors, Palin is commander-in-chief of the Alaska National Guard. Of course, this doesn’t mean she has any role in foreign deployments of the guard, and of course, no one ever said she did.

I’m waiting for Barak to come out with his experience as commander-in-chief of the South Chicago Neighborhood Watch. I know I’ll sleep better at night knowing he’s been on the front lines.

jwest,
Either Barack Obama has more experience than Palin, or Palin has more experience than McCain, Biden and Obama. You can't have it both ways.

That’s exactly what I’ve been arguing for the past 10 threads.

If you are looking for commander-in-chief experience, Palin’s on top.

Okay... you can just stick with that. Let's see how seriously people take your arguments in light of that position.

jwest: If you are looking for commander-in-chief experience, Palin’s on top.

Suddenly my fictitious POW story is making a lot of sense -- well in a Bill Kristol sort of universe anyway. Lol!

You apparently don’t like to face reality.

Barak can’t order a Chicago cop to have a car towed away.

Biden doesn’t have the power to order more than a staff car to take him to the train.

McCain, for all his background, can’t order a private in the army to button his shirt.

Palin, on the other hand, can, at this moment, order her fighter aircraft, bombers, tanks and troops to wipe out any invading group of Royal Canadian Mounted Police who wander into Alaska looking to shoot her moose.

That’s real power, son.

hahaha, finally lightening up

Let’s not forget to mention temperament.

Which one of us, when faced with living next door to Canadians – worse yet, French Canadians, wouldn’t order an attack?

Sarah Palin is a model of tolerance.

Jwest: "Palin, on the other hand, can, at this moment, order her fighter aircraft, bombers, tanks and troops to wipe out any invading group of Royal Canadian Mounted Police who wander into Alaska looking to shoot her moose.

That’s real power, son."

Jwest, please tell me you're jestin'...Please!

Must have been a lousy weekend for the Messiah. First, the disciples cause him to interrupt Sunday dinner and have to issue a statement to call them off the seventeen year old girl. Now he's got to be wondering how this whole thing about the other team's second stringer is being compared to his experience.

Sorry, can't see Palin as the 'experienced foreign policy candidate'. She may bring some massive political upside to the ticket (although what completely escapes me, beyond the simple fact of being female), but this is a silly argument.

I am not saying Obama does have the experience either, but it is safe to say that neither would have been a first choice Secretary of State at this point in the career. I also am not sure (other than the normal political desire to find something to denigrate your opponents with) why this has become such a center piece.

The only President elected since Eisenhower that had a strong Foreign Policy background prior to being elected was Bush the Elder. Maybe Nixon, too.

D.E.,

Of course, I’m kidding about invading Canada, but the power that Palin has as Commander-In-Chief of the Alaska National Guard is quite real.

She has real aircraft, tanks and troops, all with real ammunition.

She calls the shots.

McCain used to have a small amount of this power, Obama and Biden have never been near it.

Why do I suddenly feel like Grace Slick 40 years removed? The really weird thing about it is... it's mostly the right that has stepped through the looking glass. Perhaps it has to do with Medicare D. Lol!!

Okay, I'm kidding. But I'm still wondering. Seriously -- all of a sudden it's the so-called conservatives that are the idealists, and the so-called liberals that are the realists.

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!! Any volunteers?

jwest:

"but the power that Palin has as Commander-In-Chief of the Alaska National Guard is quite real.

She has real aircraft, tanks and troops, all with real ammunition.

She calls the shots."

Again, you must be jestin. As the post states:


In an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard said he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations."

She calls the shots???? Give me ONE example when she called the shots on the Alaska National Guard aircraft, tanks, and troops, all with real ammunition?

Which is the last battle she commanded?

When did she dispatch her tanks, airplanes and troops and ordered them to fire in anger?

When did she make Command decisions??


When is the last time one of her aircraft, tanks or troops fought against an enemy, foreign or domestic?

Please tell me...

D.E.,

You suffer from the same affliction of many liberals – the lack of reading comprehension, coupled with a misunderstanding of how the United States is organized under our constitution.

The Alaska National Guard, just as each other state National Guard, is composed of real military units. These Guard units are under the sole command of the states governors. When needed by the federal government, control is passed to the regular military command and the President assumes control of these units as Commander-In-Chief.

Although Gov. Palin has not had the need to exercise her authority and use her forces in a conflict with liberal neighbor Washington State, the responsibility for command and control remain with her. As evidenced by the flawless job republican Gov. Bobby Jindal just did in Louisiana, a competent leader in command of military forces can save lives in an emergency. Quite a contrast from the poster girl for “deer caught in the headlights” incompetence, Kathleen Blanco.

The point is that she has the power and the responsibility – something Obama and Biden have never experienced.

Read about our country. Learn about its history and organization. Find out about the relationship between the local, state and federal governments and why the system was set up the way it is. It’s fascinating.

D. E. Rodriguez: "When did she make Command decisions?? When is the last time one of her aircraft, tanks or troops fought against an enemy, foreign or domestic?"

Perhaps her command decisions were the firings of a police chief and librarian in her old town of Wassilia when he was mayor and then those firings of her personal enemies as governor. :) (I'm being flip here.) Obama may bring a gun to a knife fight when attacked but I guess Palin can bring a tank and threaten to fire it at a firing of people she doesn't like. :)

jwest, I agree with your point about Palin having more "commander" type experience as a governor than McCain, Obama and Biden. She can call out the Alaska National Guard. And as a governor she does have some executive experience that the other three do not have.

But it is really slim experience and her judgement is being questioned on several issues. As I mentioned in an earlier post, give her a few more years to get some more experience (and actually form positions on the major issues of our time) and then we can debate her experience and her positions. RIght now she is a blank slate because she's never bothered (as far as many of us can tell) to form positions in many important areas. Her positions are Alaska-centric (and I'm not knocking that because as Alaska's guv she should have those positions. But she doesn't offer any positions on the national level.

All of the other candidates (and proposed VPs that were not chosen on both sides) have this breadth of national understanding and clear records we can see. We have a clear body of evidence to evaluate their judgement. We do not have this with Palin.

So, I have a question for you, since you're pushing the executive experience aspect of Palin.... In your opinion how long does one have to be a governor to qualify for having good solid experience? I don't think a day as governor would count as executive/commander experience. Palin has been governor for 18 months.... Is that really long enough to count as executive/commander experience?

Jwset:

"Although Gov. Palin has not had the need to exercise her authority and use her forces in a conflict with liberal neighbor Washington State, the responsibility for command and control remain with her. As evidenced by the flawless job republican Gov. Bobby Jindal just did in Louisiana, a competent leader in command of military forces can save lives in an emergency. "
I believe the question about using military command and control of military forces was about Sarah Palin in Alaska, not about Jindall in Louisiana, and not about quoting theoretical examples from wilkipedia.

Again, examples, facts and data about Palin's Commander-in-chief achievements and actions with the Alaska NG asplease.

D.E.,

There are no incidents of her actually using the military power she has at her command.

This is a threshold question of life experience for the office of President. She has been entrusted by the people of her state with the responsibility, Obama and Biden have not.

Right now, the liberal media is mocking her as inexperienced. As politically astute as the readers of this blog are, some didn’t know what powers a sitting governor hold. As the working mothers, blue collar men and single moms learn that she did indeed have serious responsibilities, they will turn their indignation back at the democrats.

This is on top of the negative reaction the public will have to Biden when asked to comment on Palin. He is physically incapable of talking without being condescending.

OK, jwest. you've truly lost your marbles. By your own admission she actually has no command experience. If the units "under her command" are needed nationally, they will no longer be under her command. So she does not have the experience of having commanded them, nor did voters select her because she is capable of doing so. She is not empowered to do so on a national level, which is the only basis on which national guard units would ever be used against a foreign power. Your argument is so far from reality it just seems desperate. There will be no indignation about questioning her and McCain on these issues. Your arguments, if adopted by McCain, will not win him votes. They will earn him laughs.