Dobleve

The Democratic and Republican conventions are over, and I didn’t get to see any of them on TV – they aren’t broadcast here. Fortunately NPR has posted the audio and transcripts of the various speeches so I’ve been able to keep up with my iPod, albeit a day or two late.

They have been interesting, with funny moments like Bill Clintons’ “Obama is the man for this job”, but in my view they have not been surprising; no new ideas presented, just summaries of campaign points.

I was listening to Sarah Palins’ acceptance speech, and for quite a while it seemed like the others, with some admittedly funny jabs at Obama. But then she said something that made me do a double-take and go read the transcript when I got home. She couldn’t have just implied that our laws and civil liberties are not for everyone, could she? Not on national TV. I think she did; perhaps it came out wrong but given how well she spoke that is hard to believe she ad-lib’d it. Here’s what she said (see the transcript of Mrs. Palins speech, about 3/4 of the way down):

“Al-Qaida terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America … he’s (Obama) worried that someone won’t read them their rights?”

Its fine if she thinks Obama will not be tough enough on security; say that if you think it. But the fact that she chose to compare Obama’s security policies to upholding the current law in the US (see Miranda rights) is troubling to say the least. I wonder what other laws she considers optional?

She claims to be a Washington outsider but to me it sounds like she has spent time with Mr. Cheney and Mr. Gonzales discussing how to avoid that pesky constitution and those annoying Geneva conventions.